Sweet Hatred
by littlepapercut
Summary: AU. 'Without thinking, Eve kissed him. She felt Cato go rigid as he realised, but before long there was nothing in the world apart from his mouth on hers and the spark in her stomach. But then it hit her. This was real. The plan wasn't making them do this. Eve shoved him away and scrambled back. She knew that he'd felt it too, no matter how much he'd wanted not to.'
1. Before Anything Else

**_Disclaimer- I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its original characters._**

**_Rated T for violence, maybe some self-harm, mild lemons, and a LOT of swearing because Eve and Cato are feisty._**

* * *

_Eve Hadley and Cato Larek have hated each other for as long as they can remember. When they both volunteer for the 74th Hunger Games and an unlikely enemy poses a threat, they're forced to deal with each other. But things are changing._

* * *

Before anything else, Eve felt the warmth.

The suns harsh glare was wriggling its way into her room, illuminating the pastel walls with a soft golden glow. She flinched as a ray shone in her eyes, groaned and rolled over. It was always hot in District Two, a fact she didn't particularly like. But today she didn't mind. She grinned to herself.

_Only an hour left_.

She got out of bed and stretched her back out before slowly wandering over to the window and glancing around at the surrounding streets.

Eve and her family, the Hadley's, lived in the richest part of town; a complex of large, white villas in the very center of the District. Their house was just around the corner from the Academy and about a three-minute walk away from the Town Square, which was handy when it came to training, and maybe five minutes from the Nut. Being top girl at the Academy, it helped that Eve wasn't too far away.

Walking away from the window, a thought tumbled through her brain and she lifted up her grey top, then frowned.

Of course it was still there. The bruise was now a deep, vein-filled purple, stretching from just above her belly button and around her right hip, but the yellow around the edges showed obvious signs of healing. She ran her thumb around the edge of the bruise wistfully. After wincing at the contact, she inwardly slapped herself.

_Showing pain and fear means you're weak, and if you're weak you're as good as dead to me._

The words her father had said a couple of weeks ago swam through her head, but no matter how much she hated herself for showing weakness and him for being an asshole, the faint pain was still there.

Her father had gone overboard when they'd been sparing the night before. She had managed to successfully hit him in the jaw and had kicked him where it hurt most, but he had straightened up with a murderous expression on his face and punched her strongly in the gut, knocking every inch of breath out of her. She had collapsed while he laughed at her, and been left with a broken rib; it was good that she found some Capitol medicine in one of the bathrooms for broken bones. Her rib had sorted out overnight and the bruise would be gone soon, but her relationship with her father obviously wasn't at its best.

Eve was now an only child, meaning that she and her mother got the full impact of her father's controlling, abusive attitude. He hadn't been the same since Carson, Eve's older brother, died.

She balled her fists up at the memory. He'd been shot through the neck by a District One tribute about ten years back in the Games, and ever since then, her father had turned into a monster. Eve had been six when Carson died, but the years hadn't taken away the sadness she felt for her lost brother. She missed him, but the hole in her heart paled in comparison to the swell of hatred towards her father.

Then a reoccurring thought popped into her head._ I could always just kill him._ She had considered it dozens of time, but she pondered it again. She definitely was capable of doing it, and somewhere deep inside her she was desperate to get rid of him. But if she did, and she knew this, she'd be locked away, and she couldn't let that happen.

But that was what she had trained to do for all these years, wasn't it? She'd been learning how to kill.

She felt another smirk spread across her face as her mind repeated the word over and over. _Kill kill kill kill._ The thoughts of killing so mercilessly and torturing her enemies to the brink of madness filled her with a thrill nothing else could.

She took off her shirt and pants, replacing them with her pastel orange reaping dress. It was a good fit on her; it showed off her curves and beautifully complimented her long hair. Her mother had done a good job in picking it out for her. Eve looked at herself in the large floor length mirror.

The dress was short and way above the knee with a low neckline, but Eve liked it. She brushed it down and grabbed an eyeliner pencil from one of her drawers.

Her hazel eyes looked incredibly dark today; a fact she noticed as she drew a thin line of black eyeliner on the bottoms of her eyelids. She curled her eyelashes and coated both top and bottom in black mascara. Her mother had said to make an effort, and she had promised her she would.

Looking in the mirror and seeing herself all dressed and ready, she felt a wave of excitement pour over her like boiling water. She was volunteering for the Hunger Games today. Cato Larek, a guy from her training, was volunteering as the male tribute, but she absolutely despised him. Cato was hideously sleazy and infuriating, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to wait the few weeks until the Games to kill him. She hated him as much as she hated her father. Maybe even more.

After brushing her hair, she glanced in the mirror again and examined herself. Her hair fell gently from a middle parting down her chest, reaching down to her hips. Dead straight as always, she had no need for straighteners, and she hated it curly. She cocked her head to the side and looked closer at her face and hair.

People had always said Eve was striking, but she'd never believed anybody. She hated herself. She was confident with her fighting and many other things, but when it came to her appearance she wasn't at all happy with it. But other people disagreed. Her many boyfriends, her mother, Carson when he was still alive, strangers too. And with her also being the best fighter in District Two it was needless to say that she got a lot of attention, though half of the guys and men were sexist pigs that didn't think of her as anything more than a dumb slut incapable of doing anything.

With a huff she wandered out of her room and down the hall into the kitchen. Her tummy ached slightly as she reached across the counter and grabbed a cookie from the tin, and it was only then that she heard her father and mother talking in the dining room. With her biscuit in hand, she walked over to the door and opened it slightly.

Her father sat at the head of the table with her mother on his right, who was as white as the tablecloth she was leaning on. Suddenly her mother whispered something about not wanting to send another child into the Games and her father suddenly raises his hand to slap her. Eve walked in with a glare plastered across her face. Her mother's lip was quivering profusely, and there was a long pause before anybody spoke.

"You look very pretty, Evie." Her mother said shakily as her father lowered his hand. Her cracked lips manage to form a thin smile.

"Thank you." Eve smiled back at her, then threw a cold glare towards her father. "We're going. If you come with us I'll kill you." She hissed before practically dragging her mother out of the house, leaving her father alone and breaking things. She couldn't bear to stand any more time under the same roof as him, and she wouldn't have to from now on.

* * *

The two of them walked to the square engulfed in a harsh silence. Her mother had begun wringing her hands nervously, and Eve had stopped her. "Don't do that." She had said calmly. Her mother hadn't done it anymore.

They arrived at the square about ten minutes before the reaping was supposed to start, but everyone else seemed to have arrived early too. Eve gave her fragile mother a light hug before getting her finger pricked and entering the roped-off "**17"** section. She positioned herself in between a tall girl with short dark brown hair and a larger girl with shoulder-length ginger hair, both of whom looked petrified and weak.

Eve smirked up at the two weaklings and stood there smiling and clapping a perfect white smile as the usual group made their way up onto the stage, greeted by a raging applause and lots of cheering and whistling that made Eve smirk.

The mayor, Prolus Cooper and his wife Constantine marched up to the stage with plastic expressions and sat down on two of the four blood-red seats at the back of the stage. Enobaria Crell and Brutus Partoum followed them and sat down on either side, the two Victor's smiles looking vicious and cruel. _That'll be me soon,_ Eve thought, and her smile widened. She raised her head slightly so she could see more of the stage.

Being short did have its disadvantages.

The next was the overly enthusiastic Esme Magdalene, the representative of District Two, who clattered up to the stage in ridiculously pointy wooden shoes; she looked even worse with the diamonds in her skin shimmering brightly. The applause was still going.

Suddenly a hush fell upon the audience as Esme spoke."Hello, District Two!" She called out excitedly, and the deafening applause picked up, but Esme continued into the microphone. "Today, we are selecting the two perfect tributes for the 74th annual Hunger Games!" Eve cheered at the words. "Now, I'm sure you don't need to watch that silly little promotional video AGAIN, do they Mayor Prolus? No!" Another cheer from the crowd. "Enobaria, could you please come and select this year's female tribute, huh?" _Here it comes_, Eve thought eagerly. She couldn't wait. Esme called out to the Victor, who stood glamorously and swished over to one of the big glass bowls in her long blue dress. Her dark hand dove straight in and she fished out a single slip of paper.

Before she even had the chance to unfold the paper, Eve proudly yelled out "I volunteer!" and felt everyone's eyes on her. People broke away clapping and cheering at her, and leave a loud path to the steps up to the stage. She started smiling her most beautiful smile and flicked her hair, and she knew that she must've caught the sponsors eyes already.

"And what is your name, darling?" Esme stumbled over to Eve with her microphone held out.

"Eve Hadley." She flashed a flawless smile at the audience and Esme nodded enthusiastically before galloping away.

Eve waited on the stage with her head held high and her weight on one hip. She crossed her arms and kept smiling while Esme called Brutus up to begin the short process of picking the male tribute.

"Kane Forsythe!" The male victor bellowed, and a boy with an increasingly pale face slowly emerged from the "**12**" section, looking sick to the stomach. Eve knew that Cato was waiting so long to volunteer just to give the boy the fright of his life. Just before the boy touched the stage, the blonde-haired boy from the **"18"** section raised his hand and spoke.

"I volunteer!" Cato called out. He glared at Eve quickly but washed it away with a perfect grin that made the girls nearest to him swoon. Eve saw the twelve-year-old slink back into the crowd crying as the square erupted into another applause and she smiled wider.

Cato held his head up proudly and walked strongly and made his way up on to the stage. A beaming Esme started talking again. "What is your name, gorgeous?" Esme drooled at Cato as he winked and waved at the crowd.

"Cato. Cato Larek." He flaunted his smile like a girl might show off her new dress and it was all Esme did not to collapse in awe. She cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Come now you two, shake hands!"

The pair glared at each other, momentarily forgetting to smile and became caught up in the deep hate between them. Then Cato strode over to Eve coldly and they shook hands, both of them barely hiding their disgust. Neither of them could look each other in the eye.

Esme suddenly spoke and Eve ripped her violated hand away from Cato. "And there you have it! This year's Hunger Games tributes, Eve Hadley and Cato Larek!" She said proudly before another deafening cheer arose, and she followed the smiling tributes into the Justice Building.

* * *

_And that's the first chapter DONE! I know, not that great of a chapter but please give it a chance :) I hope you liked it!_

_T__his is my second story on here but my first was a complete and utter flop, but I've been working on this one for months and I've gotten pretty far through! __This chapter basically just introduces you to Eve and her life and all that jazz, so I assure you things get better as the story develops :) __I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters from it._

_And just a heads up, this will be a long story so if you don't like long stories I suggest you turn back down your short story loving road right now and heed my warning._

_And you're all probably wondering about the mysterious 'plan' mentioned in the summary... I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out about that! It becomes clear in Chapter 6 so just bear with me until then :)_

_If I get more than maybe 3 reviews then you can expect an update really soon, probably in under a week :) I swear though this story gets SO much better as the chapters go on. If you don't like this chapter please tell me and give me pointers on how to fix it; I'm new to Fan fiction so it would be really amazing if you could help me out :)_

_Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!_

_Eva xox_


	2. Leaving

Cato sat on the white leather couch with his legs crossed and his arms resting behind his head. He'd told his family that there was no point in him having visitors, so of course nobody was coming. He was going to win and come back, so why say goodbye?

He smirked to himself. _Nobody stands a chance_. He ignored the nagging feeling in his stomach that maybe somebody _did_ stand a chance, and she was in the next room across. Focusing on it would just piss him off.

He was excited to finally be heading off to the Games, but he was seething in the knowledge that _Eve Hadley _was the one doing it with him. The name made him cringe. He hated absolutely everything about her. Hell, he was already thinking of how to kill her. _Slowly and painfully_ were the only words he needed to go by.

He sighed. He hated that he had to wait a couple of weeks until the Games actually began. How was he supposed to make it through that time without killing his District partner? And why wasn't it Clove that was going instead of her? It really fucked him off. Clove was his best friend, and she was amazing with knives. He didn't see why the Hadley girl had stolen her spot.

_Only a couple more minutes, _Cato told himself. _Then it really begins._

* * *

Eve heard the door open and the dull thud of her mother's footsteps wander over to her. Her mother gently positioned herself down next to her daughter on the sofa and Eve wriggled over to lean on her shoulder.

They sat like that for a while, until suddenly her mother spoke.

"I... I'm leaving him." Her mother stuttered nervously. Eve practically fell off her seat. When she caught her balance again she simply stared at her mother with her mouth in an 'O' shape.

"REALLY?!" She yelled, and her mouth was stretching into a huge smile. Her mother hesitated before she nodded vigorously. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" Eve screeched before trapping her frail mother in the strongest hug she had ever given anyone. She felt her mother smile against her shoulder. The two of them slowly parted, still both dizzy with smiles.

"When?" Eve asked.

"When you're back." Her mother said hesitantly, but Eve just smiled.

"We'll have our own house in the Victors Village. Away from him." She had no doubt that she was coming back to District Two; she was sure she'd win. Everyone else knew it too. Even Cato.

"Please just... just make sure you come back, okay Evie?"

Eve nodded once and kept her wide smile plastered on her face. "I will, mama." And with that, her mother was toddling out of the room, smiling.

* * *

The short car ride to the Station passed in silence. Cato looked silently out of the window, but he could hear Esme chattering excitedly to Eve. The conversation was pointless and stupid; much like Esme herself. It was _all_ about Eve's outfits and her interview dress and all that. Eve wasn't replying, or saying anything at all come to think of it, but somehow she still managed to annoy him.

He had a disliking for Esme, but Eve angered him so much that he was sure he absolutely despised her, and being stuck in the same car as then for five more minutes was doing his head in.

Within another ten minutes the car ride ended and Cato now sat in one of the blue tub chairs on the train, not saying anything. He was watching the television with his arms crossed as Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith began talking about the most recent reaping from District Five and could hear the two mentors, Brutus and Enobaria, screeching at each other about something pathetic from the dining table. He had no idea where Eve was, and he really didn't care.

He heard a glass smash suddenly, but he wasn't surprised. He didn't even have to turn around to know that one of the mentors had thrown something glass at the other. A loud SLAM of the door sounded and he heard Enobaria growl, making him assume that Brutus had stormed out. He decided to leave her; he knew what Enobaria's temper could do, and he didn't want to experience it.

He wandered down the corridor to his room and strolled into the ensuite to have a long, hot shower.

After ten minutes he was clean and dry, and now lay down on the bed with the TV playing a version of the Games from ten years back. He watched with a serious expression on his face as the District Two tribute, Carson, was shot through the neck with a District One arrow.

* * *

Eve sat on the edge of her bed chewing on a piece of liquorice. She was watching Capitol TV alone in her room and was about to get up to get more food when suddenly Caesar spoke.

"Now Claudius, what is your opinion on this year's District Two tributes?" He said with his usual excitement. Eve looked up at the screen.

"Well Caesar, this _Cato_, he's very, VERY attractive." Claudius blushed slightly when he said this. "And he also looks incredibly strong and well-trained, so I believe he will do very well in this year's Games, yes yes!" He smiled at Caesar. "What do you think of Eve Hadley, then? Is she in or out?_"_ Eve stopped chewing and just waited.

"She's absolutely striking! Skinny and beautiful! She looks quick and agile, I believe. Cunning, too. We best keep an eye out for her, Claudius!" They both chuckled but Eve frowned. She wasn't beautiful or skinny.

"But hold on a minute, Caesar. _Hadley..." _Claudius pondered the name_._ "Where have I heard that name before?"

"I... Oh, I know! _Carson Hadley_! He was in the Hunger Games nine... ten years ago, was it?"

"Oh yes! I remember those Games well! Let's take a look shall we?" Eve fumbled for the remote and quickly flicked the TV off before she saw anymore.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't think about how confident Carson had been for his Games. He'd been top of the Academy, too. _No. _He'd been just like she was now. She couldn't think about it.

She decided to take a shower, and as she stood there with the water running over her bare body, she felt all her worries washing away.

When she'd finished, she placed her hand on the small black sensor and let the electrical current surge through her body, her hair drying in less than a second in its usual, dead straight form. No knots.

She wandered naked through to the bedroom and casually put on the first things she saw; bike shorts and a wrinkled black top. She didn't bother with a bra. After giving herself a quick once-over and huffing unhappily because of it, she wandered out to the dining cart.

* * *

Cato sat in the dining cart as Brutus and Enobaria argued again; this time about spilt coffee. He heard a huff and then Brutus came and sat opposite him wordlessly at the dining table. But then he heard the door swing open and light footsteps skitter over. He clenched his fists.

Eve sauntered in and nodded at Brutus, completely ignoring Cato, and then walked over to Enobaria, who was pacing furiously down the other end of the carriage. Cato heard her whisper a few things to Enobaria, then the mentor give her a hushed reply. _Great_. _Now they're making a shitty little scheme._ He stood and turned to look at the two of them. He spoke.

"What are you talking about?" He asked cooly, but he was sure the spite was evident.

Eve turned to look at him with a smirk on her face and her arms crossed, as did Enobaria, but Eve was the one to speak. "Aw, Catty's feeling a bit left out." She grinned. "We'd tell you if we thought your little prick head brain could handle it."

He glared at her and tried to calm down. He unclenched his fists and raised his head, replacing his scowl with a smirk. "I can handle anything, little girl." He laughed shortly and was about to speak again, but she beat him to it.

"Oh I'm _sure_ you can!" She said, and made a gesture that was meant to symbolise jacking off. Cato's anger surged through him and he pushed his jaw forwards.

"Watch it, Hadley." He hisses at her.

"I'm fine, thanks." She said, and he saw a hint of anger flash across her face. She walked away from her spot and headed back towards the door. "I hope you have fun 'handling everything', Cato."

"Shut your mouth!" He raised his voice, and she looked at him.

"Fuck up." She said casually as she reached for the door handle. She pulled the door open.

And then it was clear that she'd pushed him over the edge. He barrelled over to her and shoved her against the wall, his upper arm pushing against her neck.

"You... You're a little bitch, Eve. If you don't watch your mouth, I'll kill you. I don't care whether we're in the Games or not, and I don't care if you're my District partner. You're my kill and don't you forget it." He smiled a cruel smile.

Then she literally spat in his face. The blob landed at the corner of his mouth.

"You need to learn some manners, asshole." She raised her knee so quickly that Cato didn't have time to react. She kneed him where it hurt most and he bent over in pain. The anger swelled up inside her and she grabbed his head with both hands and slammed it down onto her knee, breaking Cato's nose and knocking him out cold. Enobaria and Brutus had watched the scene unfold, and now stood silently, just staring at Eve.

She raised her middle finger at the two of them, kicked the unconscious Cato for good measure and stormed back to her room. She heard Esme shriek just before she slammed the door.

* * *

Cato woke up to a bright light shining in his eyes and he groaned as the beam forced splodges of colour to dance in the darkness of his eyelids.

He turned away from the light and opened his eyes lazily. They felt like glue and it was a challenge within itself to unstick them, let alone sit up. When he finally managed to do so, he saw Brutus sitting casually at the foot of the bed. _Bed?_ Cato looked around. He was in his bedroom on the train, a large, overhanging light hovering above him. The last thing he remembered was the dining car and Eve kneeing him in the groin. Beyond that was nothing but black.

"What happened?" Cato's voice came out raspy and weak; not at all the way he had intended.

Brutus huffed out a laugh. "You got beaten up. Eve kneed you in the face and you crumpled onto the ground like a ragdoll."

Cato glared at him. "I fail to see how that's funny." He hissed.

"You were just so pathetic. Cato, she's a little girl. If you can't beat her then you shouldn't be here." Brutus rose up off his chair. "I'm going to get the nurse." Just before he reached the door, Brutus swung around. "Oh and you look like shit, by the way. You've got an hour to fix yourself up before we get to the Capitol."

"Thanks." Cato replied curtly and scowled at the back of his mentors head as he left. As soon as he heard the door shut Cato was out of bed and shoving the overhanging light away as he moved to the bathroom. When he got there he was horrified. His nose was bruised terribly, but to his relief it was a normal shape. But did that matter? He still needed to get her back for this.

Within five minutes he was out of his shirt and pyjama trousers and was wearing jeans and a shirt. His prep team was now fretting about his bruise and one of the more colourful of the three began lathering a disgusting-smelling liquid on his nose. He cringed.

"What the hell is that?!" He sneered at her.

"Liquid foundation, silly! Makeup! It's special, too! It gets rid of bruises within a couple of hours! We had to use most of it on your buddy Eve's belly but luckily there was enough left to cover up your nose!" She giggled, and brushed away his obvious agitation. Cato ignored everything after the word 'makeup'.

"NO!" His voice boomed. "I am NOT wearing makeup! I'm a guy!"

"A guy with a hideous bruise." Enobaria's voice drifted in from the doorway and Cato swung around to see her leaning against the door frame examining her pointed nails. "We don't want you to go out there with that thing on your face, do we? While every other tribute will be untouched? People will laugh, Cato. You'll be noted as weak, and weakness is the worst thing in the world." And with that, she was gone. There was a long pause.

"Fine."

* * *

_So it's starting to get into the deeper stuff now, what do you guys think?_

_Reviews seriously make my day, no matter how short they are. So all you supermegafantabulous readers out there, PLEASE leave me a comment or pointers or even flames if you think I'm doing something incredibly wrong! Any sort of feedback is welcome :)_

_At least 3 more reviews and I'll post the next chapter, and believe me I can't wait until this mysterious 'plan' starts in Chapter 6. You'll love it, I promise!_

_Thanks for reading!_

_Eva xox_


	3. The Golden Chariot

After some time, Brutus and Enobaria had gone to talk to the other Career mentors, and Eve and Cato were busy being plucked and preened by their prep teams. Esme sat in the Centre Lounge, reading a copy of _CapiFashion_, her favourite magazine. Just as she settled on reading an article about '_Tips and All for Summer and Fall!'_ she heard the intercom click on.

_"This is an announcement for all mentors and representatives."_ The velvety voice said. "_Tributes are fully fitted in their ceremony costumes, so it is asked that everyone falling under the before-mentioned categories proceeds to the Chariot House and rejoins their tributes. Ten minutes until appearance. Thank you."_

Esme grumbled to herself before tucking the magazine into her handbag and exiting the lounge. After skipping down the hall excitedly, she made it into the Chariot House and was now staring in awe at Cato.

Her first thoughts were of how attractive he looked. With his bruise covered up, he looked like a _god._ She couldn't see Eve anywhere, but there Cato stood with his chest rippling and his head raised boredly. She blushed and took to fiddling with her hands nervously.

He was wearing a white toga that barely covered his muscular chest and stretched over his shoulder. It covered all the necessary bits and left his strong legs bare. His stylist was adjusting the golden cord around his waist and another woman from his prep team was placing a simply golden band on his head. Esme giggled. It looked like the Victor Crown, and she had no doubt that that was the entire purpose of it.

Cato looked at her, and Esme hoped he would wink or something of the sort. Instead, he scowled in disgust and looked away straight after.

Esme stood there, lost for words. _Oh well,_ she thought. _I can always just go and find Mr O'dair._

_"Five minutes until appearance_." A voice said.

Suddenly she heard a side-splitting laugh break out from behind her, and she swung around to see Eve bent over in hysterics. _What..._ Esme's thoughts were clouded as she realised Eve was laughing at Cato.

* * *

Cato stood there glaring at her with murder written all over his face as he watched Eve laughing._ How dare she?!_ The voice inside his head grumbled. While various ways of killing her ran through his head Eve straightened up and was smiling widely.

"You look pathetic..." She whispered then burst out laughing again. Cato was pissed now. Really pissed. He shoved his stylist and prep team away from him and stormed over to his District partner. She had barely managed to stop laughing when he grabbed the plait her dark hair was in and yanked her up to look in his eyes. She was still laughing..

"Believe me, little girl, you look shittier than everybody else here." And though he wanted to mean it, he couldn't. His hatred for her didn't take away the fact that she was beautiful. And yeah, she did look even more beautiful tonight in her long white toga with the golden band on her head, but that made him hate her even more. For one second, Eve actually looked hurt. But then arrogance took over and she grinned.

"And I suppose that's why you can't stop staring at me?" She laughed and he yanked harder on her hair, but she didn't flinch. "Are you sure you want to start this again, Cato? Right before the tribute parade? Not one of your... _smartest_ decisions." She was looking him straight in the eye and it made him uncomfortable. Before he had the time to respond, a high-pitch voice screamed from behind him.

"YOU DESTROYED MY MASTERPIECE!"

Cato turned his head to see Eve's stylist, Luno, stumbling over to them.

Luno stormed over with his teeth clenched. Cato released his grip and smirked at Eve as she glared at him. "I give you my deepest apologies." He said to Luno and sniggered at Eve before turning on his heels and heading back over to his prep team.

"I don't want them." He heard Luno hiss.

* * *

Eve sat still as Luno painfully undid what remained of her complex plait, mumbling insults at Cato in the progess. Eve couldn't help but smirk. Luno hated Cato too, but nowhere near as much as she did. But then again, no one did.

"How is it possible for him to have made such a hideous result of my beautiful work!?" She heard him huff. "That DISGUSTING brute really messed it up! Ugh. I should go and smack him silly."

Eve scoffed as Luno brushed her hair out. Just as he was about to redo the plait, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"_Attention all tributes, please make your way to your designated chariot. Two minutes until appearance."_ The voice boomed.

Luno sighed lightly. "I guess you'll just have to leave it down, then." He adjusted the crown on her head and then she began walking over to the golden chariot.

_"One minute, tributes."_

* * *

Cato walked over to the chariot alone; he had managed to avoid Esme's watching eyes and had scared his prep team off. He caught a glimpse of Eve standing by her stylist, who had a hysterically worried look on his face. Cato smirked.

When he reached the chariot a voice announced that there was one minute left until the chariots were to roll out, so he stepped up onto it and looked around at the other tributes.

They hadn't watched the reapings on the train, despite Esme's constant pestering. There wasn't a point, in Cato's opinion. Making assumptions about their personality was petty and blinded someone from the other's fighting techniques.

Looking around now, though, he saw a couple of the tributes on their chariots. He spotted a massive, dark-skinned tribute standing towards the back of the chariot queue. He was standing next to a young, similar-looking girl who looked scared out of her wits. _Bloodbath_, he thought and smirked.

"_Thirty seconds."_ The same voice announced, and Cato looked away from the District Eleven tributes and began searching for Eve. He'd be in the shit if she didn't make it onto the chariot in time.

"Worried about me?"

He flicked around to face her and actually felt his eyes flaming. "Fuck off."

"Aw, how sweet! Cato's got a little crush." She smirked at him maliciously and he glared at her.

"I said-"

"_Ladies and gentlemen of the Captiol, it is our pleasure to present the tributes of the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games!"_

* * *

And then it began. Orchestral music was playing and District One's chariot was moving smoothly in front of them, and before long Eve and Cato were rolling out of the big Chariot House doors. Eve wasn't surprised in the slightest by the ferocity of the cheering crowd. The cheering and clapping became even louder as they exited. She could feel Cato waving next to her and the closeness made her want to barf, but she managed to hold it in.

This side of the Games made her just as sick, if not more. The pageantry and 'fun' side made everything seem like a complete joke, but she went along with it.

She smiled her most dazzling smile and began waving lightly to the audience. She could hear people squealing wherever she looked and then somebody threw an oddly blue rose at her. She caught it effortlessly and held it up to the crowd. She felt her toga flapping against her legs and the weight of the crown on her head, smelt the smell of roses and metal, saw the colourful crowd jumping up and down excitedly, the occasional just watching her in interest. She smiled wider.

Suddenly the crowd exploded into the loudest applause Eve had ever heard. She flicked her head round and saw the District Twelve tributes leaving the Chariot House, both of them completely engulfed in flames.

* * *

"You little-" Cato didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. The voice interrupted him and announced the beginning of the parade, and before he knew it District One was rolling out into the ravenous crowds.

Cato was a little shocked when their chariot lurched forwards, exposing him to the mass of Capitol people. He didn't expect so many people.

Regardless he waved and winked and cheered and caught the flowers they threw at him, just as he was told. Eve was tense next to him and it made his smile stretch even wider. It would be nice to see her mess up something.

Suddenly she burst to life, doing the same actions as Cato and maybe more. He didn't look at her. Perfect little Eve was back, and he could feel the anger bubbling inside him; a time bomb, waiting to explode.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, this year's District Twelve tributes, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!"_

_Boom_.

The crowd went absolutely berserk. People screamed louder and clapped harder than ever before. Cato felt Eve's head swing round and he allowed his to do the same.

The District Twelve tributes were actually _on fire._ Flames were swirling around them wildly as the tributes stood dead still. The crowd was screaming so loudly he swore his eardrums popped. Ignoring this, all he could feel was his head spinning. How was it even possible to be set on _fire_ without your skin burning and your body shriveling away to ashes? It didn't make _sense_. He felt the confusion wash around inside his core, but full-on anger soon replaced it.

_How dare they. How fucking dare they._ Everybody in the crowd was staring at the District Twelve tributes, and he felt Eve go rigid beside him, but this time he didn't smirk at her or feel anything towards _her_; all his emotions were raging about Twelve.

* * *

After another minute of complete and utter agony for both of them, Eve and Cato reached the Square, along with all the other tributes. President Snow stood on a massive stone balcony that jutted out from his manor, and he formally began relaying his annual speech.

Eve was completely ignoring him, though. All of her focus was on District Twelve.

She glared at them so powerfully that when the blonde guy had caught her eye he had cowered away, but the girl had seemed totally unfazed. This annoyed Eve so much that she had to latch onto the edge of the chariot to calm down. Her grip was tightening by the minute and she was pretty sure she would break off the edge of the chariot if they weren't out of her line of sight soon.

Before she had the chance to so much as scratch the chariot, it whirred back to life and she realised that President Snow had stopped speaking and dismissed them. The vehicle lurched and took them away from the Square and the hysterical crowds and towards the towering Training Centre.

As soon as the chariot stopped Eve was off. It was all she could do not to go and murder the District Twelve tributes, and she settled for an angry, fast-paced walk over to the lifts. She got to them before everybody else and slammed her fist against the _UP_ button powerfully. The lift doors swung open and she stormed inside

She kicked the glass wall so hard that she thought it would shatter, and stood with her fists clenched as Cato and some other tributes filed into the lift; Cato wearing the same expression of anger she was.

They'd get Twelve back, she thought, and they were determined to make them suffer.

* * *

_Hey everyone! So I gave up on waiting until I had six reviews so I decided to go ahead and post Chapter 3 regardless :) A massive thank you to all the people who are still reading this story and an even bigger one to those of you who reviewed! I love you all 3_

_I'll be posting the next chapter probably within the next week, but don't get your hopes up because I've got a few exams so just bear with until Chapter 4 comes :)_

_Feedback is much appreciated so make sure to leave a review, you amazing readers!_

_Eva xox_


	4. Narrowed Eyes

"In two weeks, twenty-three of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next few days, particularly to what I'm about to say. First, no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the Arena. There are four compulsory exercises; the rest will be individual training. My advice is: Don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes. Ten percent from infection, twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."

Cato was barely listening to Atala's introduction to the training facilities; instead, he had taken to full-on glaring at Katniss. Hate and disgust were pooling in his gut, and all of his emotions were raging for him to grab the closest sword and stab her right then and there. It was good he had enough self-control not to. She turned her head slightly and caught him looking at her. He kept staring, his arms folded ceremoniously across his chest. She looked unnerved for a split second, and Cato was glad for it, but then the look was gone and she calmly looked back at Atala.

"Use this time wisely tributes." The training instructor finished, and Cato looked back at Atala, only to see her cold eyes focused on his. Was she emphasising that to him?

From the way she was raising her eyebrows at him it certainly seemed so, but before he could decide properly Atala turned on her heels and began walking to a far corner of the room.

The whole ordeal gave Cato something to think about as his eyes scanned the room for the other Careers. He noticed four tributes grouping by the sword station, and recognised them as the pairs from District One and District Four. He looked quickly around for Eve and her long hair, but thankfully saw no sign of her. _Must be off flashing the Gamemakers,_ he thought smugly as he sauntered over to the cluster of tributes.

"Who are you?" The tall brunette from Four hissed at him.

He threw a proud grin her way. "Cato. From Two." He said, ignoring her hideous glare. The male tribute from Four then stepped forward with his arms crossed and his lips curled up.

"I'm Crellis, this is Lucille." He said, and tilted his head towards the brown-haired girl, who stood there staring coldly at Cato.

"District Four." Lucille's mouth barely moved as she spoke; it was a bit unnerving.

Cato turned his attention to the giggling blonde from One. "What about you?"

"Glimmer." She managed to say through her fit of giggles. The gangly boy from One raised his head ever higher as Glimmer patted him on the shoulder. Cato silently took note of him. "This is Marvel. We're from District One!" She squealed excitedly, and Cato almost slapped her. He smirked at the thought of it, and Glimmer blushed, probably thinking the smirk was at her 'cuteness'. He immediately felt sick, but he could tell it didn't show by the way she was batting her eyelashes at him.

"Oh, how sweet! I see we're all getting cosy over here, aren't we?"

Cato stopped smirking. Eve was strolling over with her arms crossed and a teasing smile on her face, her eyes shining with mischief. Her ark hair and hips both swung as she walked, and Cato noticed that both Crellis and Marvel were staring.

"And you are?" Lucille spat out at her, but Eve remained cocky as she positioned herself next to Cato.

"Eve Hadley. I'm from Two." She grinned. "Same as big old Cato here." She slapped him on the back, forcefully, and Cato barely stopped himself from stumbling forward. He glared at her as he straightened up, and Eve smiled even wider. Lucille was snarling at Eve all the while, and Cato noticed the height differences. Lucille was hugely taller than Eve, but Cato was at least five centimetres taller. Crellis was about the same height as Lucille, Glimmer just an inch shorter and Marvel towering above all of them.

"Are we it, then?" Glimmer giggled again. Cato thought his ears might burst if she laughed one more time. "Doesn't seem like much of a Career pack. Six?" Another giggle, and Cato barely stopped himself from punching her.

"Anyone feel like monitoring anybody else?" Crellis said. Cato looked around at the other five Careers questioningly, and saw that Eve was doing the same.

"The boy from Three looks good with snares." Marvel was looking off at a far corner of the training room, and everybody turned to face the same way, all with narrowed eyes.

"He looks pathetic." Lucille scoffed as the guy from Three began fiddling about with some wires and connecting them to one of the fake trees.

"At least I can look at him without turning to stone." Eve muttered so quietly that Lucille didn't hear, but Cato did. Everybody knew about Greek myths and the like; District Two's history courses taught them that much. He wasn't sure why but comparing Lucille to Medusa seemed a perfect match.

"Wait, what's he doing?" Crellis was leaning forwards, as if to get a better look at Three. Everyone looked back over. The boy took a step away from his invention and called the instructor over.

There was a faint snapping noise in the background, then Eve's eyes cast up to Cato's, and she raised her eyebrows and nodded at the boy. Cato looked back, and let out a short laugh.

Three's trainer was dangling from the tree branch by his ankle, and looked quite frantic. The boy was completely pissing himself, but as soon as he noticed all six of the Careers watching him, he shut his mouth and cowered behind the tree, making sure to release his trainer quickly.

Cato spun back around and shrugged to the others. "He'll probably die in the bloodbath."

Nobody could argue with that. Everybody went quiet, but Eve broke the silence.

"I'm off to the knife station. If anyone else comes I'll rip out their heart and shove it up their ass." She smiled sweetly in contrast and turned before sauntering over to the wall of knives.

"I feel _so scared!_" Glimmer tried to retort, but nobody was paying any attention to her. Crellis, Lucille and Marvel struck up a conversation about other tributes with Glimmer picking at her nails next to them. Cato looked between them and had a bit of a think.

It had been decided months back that Cato would be the leader of the Career pack. Eve would've been the first contender, but District Two was extremely sexist, and there was a strict regulation that no female could ever lead the Careers, so the responsibility had been all his.

Of course, when she found out Eve had been blindingly furious, but he was just glad to be above her for something.

"So," he said, his own voice being the one to break him away from his thought, "I hope you all already know that I'm leader of the Careers this year. Any protests and you're out." He said pointedly.

But nobody was listening. The whole pack had their eyes on Eve and her knives. She'd thrown about ten of them in the short time, and each one had hit the middle of a bulls-eye.

Cato heard someone choke, like a laugh that wouldn't come out, and he turned his head to see Lucille tapping her foot with an exasperated expression spread across her sharp features. Glimmer wasn't paying any attention to anything other than her nails, Marvel look as blank as the wall behind him and Crellis was just standing there smirking.

Cato saw Eve look at the group of Careers suddenly and watched as she narrowed her eyes angrily. "Are you all just going to stand there like dumbasses or are you actually going to do something?"

* * *

Crellis stood still, but could feel the grin tugging at the corners of his lips. So, Eve was good with weapons. He felt his eyes glance quickly over the ten targets she'd managed to hit so perfectly, and then his focus returned to her. She shifted her weight to her other hip and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

He heard Marvel mumble something before he stalked over to the spear station with Sparkles hot on his heels. While he felt Lucille move away, he let his eyes roam lazily over Eve's body as she turned her back on him and bent over to pick up more knives. The big boobs, slight abs, the huge ass, and the delicate hips... He drank it all in like alcohol; she was just as intoxicating.

As if she sensed eyes on her she flicked her head round and her deep brown eyes found his blue ones. She smirked and looked him up and down then she turned back around soon after.

He grinned. It would be fun to screw around with her before things got into full swing.

* * *

That night, Cato sat at the dining table shovelling food into his mouth. As he forked a roast potato, a sea of thoughts rushed through his head.

The Careers this year were strong, and that would be great for the first part of the Games. When the tribute number started thinning out, he'd have to watch himself.

Crellis and Lucille seemed pretty ruthless, not that Cato wasn't just as ruthless, and it wasn't like he was scared of them, but they were more arrogant, and arrogance was a massive weakness. Marvel and Glimmer were nothing to worry about; they were good, but not good enough to be that much of a threat.

He had taken a few good things out of training today, too. For one, he'd learnt that Crellis and Lucille were both shit at handling long distance weapons, and they both favoured their right side. For two, Glimmer was bad with a bow and arrow and Marvel was terrible with knives.

But Eve? She was perfect at everything, and it really fucked him off. She'd done knife throwing, spear throwing, sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat, the climbing course... She'd aced every single thing. Cato had done just as well himself, but no one could deny that she was a force to be reckoned with too. But what annoyed him even more than Eve's weapon skills was the Twelve hadn't cared about the Careers and what they had done.

All of the other tributes had stood there shaking with their eyes as wide as their mouths, but the fire shits hadn't so much as blinked. It annoyed him so much, but he still found it hilarious that all they did in training was practice survival skills.

He huffed to himself as Brutus and Enobaria started arguing again, this time over who got the last serving of beef. Eve sat still, eating her food incredibly slowly; she'd barely eaten half of it by the time Cato finished.

He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired, and said he was going to bed before standing and walking through to his room.

* * *

_So that's the first day of training all done! What do you think of this fascination that Crellis has with our girl Eve? Do you like where the story's heading? If you love Glimmer then I'm sorry for making her like that, but to me she honestly seemed like such a ditz in both the books and the movie, so I just emphasized that! _

_I know this is such a short chapter compared to the others but ah well. Longer ones are on the way! This chapter was quick and rushed, so don't hate me if you think its tragically horrific._

_Please leave a review or feel free to PM me if you have any questions or pointers :)_

_Eva xox_


	5. Criss-Cross

The next day, Eve felt the weight of the sword in her palm. The trainer had given up on explaining the weaponry and handling; it was already clear she knew what she was doing, so now he just stood beside the rack of blades having a cigarette.

She looked at the five dummies in front of her and took a deep breath, and a few seconds later each dummy lay mutilated on the ground a few feet away, their limbs cut to ribbons, their torso's shredded, their lower body sliced to nothing. She smirked as she positioned the curved sword back on the rack and began walking over to the spear station, where Marvel stood staring at one of the dummies, a long spear going straight through the target on its throat, not quite on the bullseye.

"Nice." She said, and his lips curled up into a cocky '_I know'_ sort of grin. Eve grabbed a similar spear from the wall and walked over to the spot next to Marvel. She looked at him then smirked. She looked at one of the dummies, got into position and soon felt the spear fly out of her hand.

With a loud _thunk_ the weapon embedded itself in the dummies throat, right in the centre of the bullseye. She straightened up and flicked a strand of her plait out of her eye. Marvels grin had disappeared, and in its place sat an ugly, menacing snarl. She opened her mouth to chuck a subtle insult at him, but then she heard Cato start yelling.

"Kid! Where's my knife, huh?" She turned to see Cato storming over to the boy from Nine, looking completely and utterly furious.

"I didn't touch your knife." The boy said surprisingly calmly.

Cato's eyes blazed and he shoved the boy back. "I put my knife RIGHT THERE and-"

"Don't touch me; I didn't touch your knife!" The boy pushed Cato away, then Cato completely lost it.

"YOU TOOK MY KNIFE! YOU TOOK MY FUCKING KNIFE!" He bellowed as Nine yelled that he in fact _didn't _take the knife, and a cluster Peacekeepers came running over. Cato threw punches and the three of them barely managed to restrain him.

"I DIDN'T-"

"YOU LIAR! YOU TOOK IT! I KNOW YOU DID!"

The Peacekeepers had managed to drag Cato back about a meter, and Nine was also being held back. "I DIDN'T FUCKING TAKE IT!" Nine yelled.

Eve looked around as the shouting began diminishing. Most of the tributes were still in line for the compulsory hand-to-hand combat session (she'd done it earlier, as had the other Careers and the pair from Nine). She spotted the two fire shits in the middle of the line, and saw that the girl was smirking up at the ceiling. She looked up. It wasn't the ceiling Katniss was looking at, but rather the little girl suspended in the black netting, twirling a knife in her hands. It took less than a second for Eve to put two and two together. The knife. The little girl from Eleven. Katniss and her amused expression.

She balled her fists up. The little girl, even if she was only_ twelve_, was showing her District Partner up. Eve's anger swelled up in her core as her mind struggled to calm her down unsuccessfully. _Laugh_, her conscience told her. _You hate him, you should find this funny._

But she couldn't laugh, or even agree with it. Cato may have been a complete fuckwit and the most revolting guy Eve had ever known, but those pointers didn't even come close to covering what had happened.

She could barely hear anything over the blood that was now drumming in her ears, but she faintly heard Crellis chuckling at the whole scene from over by the spear station. The irritation inside her flooded down through her arms and into her fingers, and she dug her nails deep into her palms.

"You know what? I'll wait until the Arena. You better watch your back, kid, because you're the first one I kill." Cato called out to Nine. She watched as Cato was dragged unwillingly out of the Training Room right up until the doors slid shut.

Behind her, Crellis sighed out the end of his laugh, and she stomped over to him and shoved him back with both palms, the glare on her face getting more and more sinister. "If you ever," She shoved him again, "_ever_ laugh at either one of us again, I will rip off your scrawny little dick and cram it down your windpipe." She kept her dark eyes fixed on Crellis's as he tensed. His smirk faltered for a glorious second, and in that breath he looked almost terrified of her. She grasped that as she shoved him back and stormed away, but even then she could feel him smirking.

* * *

The hubbub died down within five minutes, and then everybody was back to normal. Cato was escorted back in by one of the Peacekeepers that had dragged him out, who now looked completely frazzled.

Eve had relocated to the axe-throwing station during the short period of time. She was itching to get her hands on a pair of whips, but sadly there wasn't a station for them. She was pissed off at this, but then realised that it would be better if nobody knew her specialty.

A grin played on her features as she chucked two more axes, each one imbedding itself into the middle of a target.

She went and grabbed the two axes from the dummies, and made the quick decision to use the axes like swords, and lunged for the first dummy. She imagined everybody she felt anything below tolerance for, their faces replacing the blank masks of the dummies. Her father, Cato, Marvel, Lucille, Crellis, Glimmer, Brutus, Enobaria, Esme, Katniss, Peeta... Each one was maimed in the blink of an eye.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passed without any more major interruptions, save for when Cato found his knife lying on a crate and had attacked the wall full-force. Eve was now loitering by the lift doors as the other tributes went back up to their apartments. She watched as Lucille walked into the lift, as blank as a slate, when suddenly an arm blocked her vision. Eve turned her head and found herself looking into unnaturally green eyes.

"I have a proposal for you, Two." Crellis's voice murmured close to her face, so close that she felt his breath on her cheek. He had his palms flat against the wall she was leaning back against, one on either side of her head. The pose was strong, statement, predatory, but Crellis looked completely casual.

"That sounds _fascinating_, but I have better things to do than to listen to your suggestions, Crellis." Her lips turned upwards into a smirk as she tried to bend out from underneath him, but he kept her in place.

He leaned even closer, if that was even remotely possible. "Look. You're fucking hot." He said, catching her off guard, and when she made eye contact with him again his eyes were hooded. "And frankly, I think it would be entertaining if we fooled around before things got going. It would be..." He pressed his mouth against her ear, "_satisfying_."

* * *

Eve began laughing. Cackling, more like, and Crellis stood with his eyes fixed on hers and his mouth pulled tight in anger.

Eve laughed more.

Crellis stepped back.

Eve's laughing died down to that of a slightly entertained kid; a small hiccup of giggling every few seconds, and Crellis stared at her like she was a madwoman. In between her laughing she managed to say "Wait, wait, wait." She forced herself to stop and made eye-contact with him again. He looked completely, blindingly mad, and her jaw dropped. "Were you actually being _serious_?" Her eyes darted around his face, like she was trying to calculate the answer.

"Took you long enough to figure it out, cupcake." He winked at her, pushed away and walked into the open lift, leaving Eve with her mouth wide.

* * *

_What had just happened?_

Eve watched the lift doors slide shut aghast. She couldn't fathom it. Crellis had just asked her to be his _plaything_. His whore until the Games started. His slut. Just because he wanted her.

Crellis, who was her biggest threat.

There was no way she was going to even consider 'fooling around' with him. She balled her fists and stared off at the back wall of the training room. She'd decided to wait until after official training time was over to practice more with her swimming; she didn't want Crellis ogling her in her bikini, and Esme had burnt all of the actual swimsuits in the fireplace because Eve needed to 'be more feminine' and 'show off her figure'. It made her sick, but her swimming was quite weak, so she needed to do it.

She turned and began walking over to the changing rooms down the other end of the training room, and headed inside.

Minutes later she exited the changing rooms in a white bikini; Esme's least favourite, which gave Eve all the more reason to wearing it considering that her favourite was rainbow and frilly and tiny. She shrugged her thoughts away and rounded the corner of the pool, heading towards the diving boards. Just as she was about to start climbing the ladder, she spotted Cato walking towards the deep end of the pool, towards _her, _in his swimming trunks. They both stopped and stood perfectly still, just glaring at each other. A few awkward seconds passed, before Cato finally spoke.

"I thought you'd left." He said through barred teeth.

She didn't respond, and instead made a beeline back towards the changing rooms, hoping he hadn't seen too much of her already, but he beat her there and grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"What were you talking to Four about near the lifts?" He snarled, and Eve's anger spiked.

"Oh we were just discussing how we're going to team up and kill you in your sleep tonight. Nothing worth worrying about." She hissed. Cato's stare intensified.

"Don't try me, Hadley." He said, and Eve felt her back slam into the wall as Cato pinned her with a muscular arm. "I could drown you right now."

"You don't have the balls for that." She spat out, and Cato's face contorted.

He opened his mouth to speak, and Eve leaned forward with fake interest, then they heard somebody cough. They both swung their heads around to see Brutus and Enobaria standing by the door, each one with their arms folded and their eyebrows raised. Eve had to admit; the situation must've looked incredibly awkward, considering that the two of them were both in next-to-nothing and they were pressed up against each other. So she said the first thing that spun to mind.

"Oh you're just in time!" Eve snarled. "Cato here was just declaring his undying love for me!"

As soon as she said it, she knew that that was the last straw for Cato.

He raised his fist and slammed it into her nose, making her head reel back and collide with the tiled wall. She gasped , but then recoiled and kicked him hard in the stomach. Blood gushed from her nose as she watched him stagger back, but then he punched her repetitively in the chest. Eve bent over in pain but forced herself to straighten up before she managed to smash his face in with a strong, well aimed punch. She laughed triumphantly before he put his hands around her throat. She choked slightly, but then she brought up her knee and slammed in to his groin, making him double over in pain and forcing his hands to fly down to his crotch. She slammed her elbow down onto his back and Cato groaned and bent upwards from the pain, but Eve could see it on his face that he was determined not to lose this time. He yanked her hair and punched her in the face, making her cry out, but then came Brutus.

During the short fight he'd just been standing there, quite surprised by the ferocity they were attacking each other with, but now he snapped to his senses and barreled over to them before lifting Eve up and forcing her away from Cato.

She kicked and screamed at him to put her down, but he didn't. She faintly heard Enobaria screeching at Cato from the side of the pool but could barely hear her exact words.

Brutus dumped her by the entrance to the lifts, a scowl blazing on his face. "FOR GODS SAKE, EVE!" He yelled full volume and slammed both of his fists into the wall. "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU _ALWAYS_ HAVE TO MAKE THINGS TURN TO SHIT, HUH?!" He boomed, and Eve felt her teeth clench as she stood up.

She started yelling. "I-"

"NO! YOU NEED TO FUCKING SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND CONTROL YOUR TEMPER, HADLEY. IT'S RUINING _EVERYTHING_!" He kept yelling after that, but she'd given up on listening.

Eve huffed and held her wrist to her nose, the blood trickling down her arm.

"YOU AREN'T EVEN FUCKING LISTENING!" He bellowed, and before Eve had the chance to cast her eyes up to him, Brutus grabbed her throat and shoved her against the wall so hard that she felt red-hot pain surge up her spine.

"FUCKING HELL!" She screeched at him. "I CAN'T HELP IT, BRUTUS! HE'S A COMPLETE _ASSHOLE! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!"_

Brutus's eyes flickered, then suddenly softened. He stepped away from Eve, letting her almost slump to the floor. She stood there with her nose spewing blood, her backbone feeling like molten metal and her jaw feeling horribly wrong and just stared at him.

He was looking at the floor, running a hand over his face. "Look." He shook as he spoke, a sign that he was barely containing his anger. "He may be a prick, but you know that doesn't mean you should try to kill him every time you get the chance."

"Really? Because I think it compensates." She hissed.

He scowled at her, and when he spoke his voice was final. "You know it doesn't. I'm not even going to _try _and understand why you hate each other so much, but if this continuous fighting doesn't stop I'll have to do something about it."

Eve looked at him and almost laughed. "I doubt anything would be able to stop us."

"Everything is worth trying if it means you two won't kill each other before the Games even start. I've given up all hope of you winning the Games this year. If Cato doesn't kill you or you don't kill yourself, somebody will get to you and you'll be too fucking obsessed with killing your District partner that you won't even see them coming. All I want to be able to do is get you into the Arena in one piece. I don't even think you'll make it past the bloodbath if this keeps going."

Eve was speechless. She stared at him, but he just narrowed his eyes and turned away. Enobaria and Cato emerged from the pool area seconds later, each one looking worse for wear. Enobaria had grabbed Eve's clothes from the changing room and Cato had already put his back on, making Eve feel incredibly self-conscious. Her body wasn't nice enough for her to show off, and she didn't feel comfortable being the only one half-naked.

"Can we all go back up now or are we still discussing?" Enobaria threw the stack of clothes at Eve and fisted the **_Up_** button for the lift. Nobody answered, and when the lift doors flung open, Eve stormed inside and faced the wall, making sure to slip on her pants and top as quickly as possible.

She hadn't even practiced her swimming.

* * *

_I got really impatient so I decided to post Chapter 5 early! I'm fully loving Cato and Eve's relationship right now. I can't even explain how much I like them together. They're perfect. But I really want to know what you people think of Crellis sort of barging in and ruining things. Is it too harsh?_

_NEXT CHAPTER REVEALS THE PLAN THINGY! I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ALL YOU READERS BUT I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO KNOW WHAT IT IS! AHHHHSHFHSHAIJFAAFX1U2HQIUAGRBACX_

_*Fangirls so hard she falls off the couch*_

_A big thanks to all the people who have reviewed! Me and my friend have been totally freaking out by how many people have checked out this story. I've had over 500 views already and that's a lot considering how new I am to Fanfiction. Oh my lord. I LOVE THE WORLD!_

_THANKS FOR READING! DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A LITTLE REVIEW OR PM ME!_

_Eva xox_


	6. Threatening

_1:00am_, the numbers flashed_._

Brutus stared at his alarm clock as he lay in bed silently with a flurry of thoughts streaming through his head.

Eve and Cato had fought a lot more than normal recently. When he was teaching the two of them back in District Two they had sparred and had the occasional hard-out fight, but _now_? It was a lot more frequent. Before training, during training, after training... It was getting petty. He rolled over and shut his eyes.

He knew that they hated each other, but their constant fighting would lead to their deaths. That much he knew. But what could he do to stop them fighting and get rid of the pure hatred they had for each other?

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Eve's words from the pool drifted through his head. _Cato here was just declaring his undying love for me..._

He sat bolt upright and his eyes flicked open again immediately.

It was risky. Hell, it was riskier than shoving your hand in Enobaria's mouth, but it could work. It could stop them fighting and at least get them into the Games without killing each other first. He was sure of it.

Brutus flicked on the bedside light and groaned. _Too bright for One in the morning._ Shielding his eyes with his arm, he fumbled for the phone. When he found it, he dialled the numbers and turned the light back off, all the while holding the phone to his ear.

"_My my, Brutus. Isn't it a little early for you to be calling? I would've thought you'd be fast asleep by now."_

"President Snow." Brutus said. "I thought of a plan. For Eve and Cato, I mean."

There was a pause.

"_I'm listening_." President Snow said. Brutus released the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and smirked.

This was going to work.

"We're going to make Panem believe that Eve and Cato are desperately in love."

"_Splendid."_

* * *

The next morning, Eve was sparring with one of the trainers as he pathetically tried to dodge her punch. Her fist slammed into his stomach and he bent over and started wheezing.

"You're new?" She asked as he straightened up and lunged for her. She easily dodged.

"Is it that obvious?" He huffed just before she grabbed him and put him in a strong choke hold. He groaned.

"Of course it is." She said.

He held up his hands in exhausted defeat. "Okay okay, I've had enough. You're done."

Eve let go of him, and she realised he was panting hard, whereas she had barely broken a sweat. She smirked before turning away and letting her eyes scan around the training room. She heard the trainer behind her coughing and smiled.

Cato, Marvel and Sparkles were standing down the other end and seemed to be laughing at the District Twelve guy, Peeta. Eve immediately started walking over. If Twelve was doing something unskilfully, she definitely wanted to see.

Peeta was climbing up one of the thick black nets on the far wall; he was about eight feet up and had his foot stuck and was panicking as he tried to untangle it. Katniss was nowhere to be seen. Eve laughed. Peeta looked down at her and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She reached the other Careers wordlessly.

"Come to watch the show?" Marvel said through a garish smile. Eve smirked.

Glimmer squealed and clapped her hands excitedly as one of Peeta's hands slipped, leaving him dangling by his other hand with a petrified expression on his pale face. He looked down at them all and lost whatever balance he had. His foot untangled and he plummeted down the whole eight feet. The Careers all laughed and turned away towards the racks of weapons. _Not even worth the worry_, Eve told herself as her eyes landed on a set of two samurai swords.

She heard somebody whispering back from where Twelve had landed, so she turned her head slightly and saw Katniss kneeling beside him. She looked up at Eve once while she was whispering to him, and their glares clashed dramatically. Eve didn't look away though; she was hoping that her eyes bore holes through Twelve's skull, but that was a bit much to ask for. Katniss looked away, and Eve tried to hone in on the conversation.

Peeta seemed shocked. "What? No. Haymitch said-"

"I don't care. Those guys are looking at you like you're a meal. Throw it."

Eve slammed her palm into the person next to hers shoulder, and it turned out to be Cato. _Of all people..._

He swung around and looked at her, but Eve just nodded towards the pair. Peeta stood up as all the other Careers looked back, and he didn't seem injured from the drop at all. They all watched on as Katniss dispersed and Peeta picked up one of the heaviest round weights from the weight station. He took a couple of puffed breaths, and then he threw it.

The weight landed about fifteen metres away from him, two maybe away from Eve. She stared at the weight, completely incredulous as to how the pathetic scum from Twelve had just lifted so much and thrown it so far. Eve didn't have enough strength to do that. The surprise and wonder in Eve swirled away, and once again pure anger surged through her veins. Cato was stiff beside her, but Marvel and Glimmer didn't seem fazed, in fact they seemed satisfied. They both just shrugged and grabbed weapons before going over to the targets.

Eve and Cato looked at each other, and for one fleeting second they were in agreement: Twelve weren't the weaklings they thought them to be.

* * *

A week after the first day of training, individual training began.

Cato held the largest sword in his hand and looked around at the massacre of dummy limbs spread around on the floor in front of him. He'd done well to bring down ten of them in about ten seconds, but Enobaria looked completely unimpressed.

"You're just flapping the sword around like a deranged little shit. You need some sort of system. Got it?" She hissed at him through her pointed teeth. Cato stared at her. "Again."

_She doesn't know what she's talking about_, he told himself. Deep down he knew she did, but the knowledge didn't show through the thickness of his pride. He was sure she was wrong this time, though. He'd had a perfect technique _and_ stance.

If he was getting treated like a ten-year-old trainee, then he was sure Eve would be too. Brutus was a harsh teacher, and was just as bad as Enobaria.

In a couple of hours time it would be time to present to the Gamemakers and show off his skills.

And he was 100% ready to get the highest score.

* * *

Eve panted. Brutus was working her down to the bone, but as to why, she didn't know. It wasn't like she needed any extra help for the scoring today.

Brutus folded his arms and looked at the dismantled dummies that lay on the ground in front of them; the remains of her last whip training. "Sloppy." She heard her mentor mumble. She turned to face him, a glare plastered on her face.

"What?!" She almost shrieked. "That was a perfect attack!" Her jaw dropped open.

"No. It wasn't. You had no structure and your posture was pathetic. Go again." He gestured towards the whips in her hands.

She stared at him with disbelief. He _had_ to be kidding. She knew she'd done really well with this; whips were her best weapon. "Screw you." She hissed at him, but despite her anger she walked over to the next set of dummies. She could easily get a high score in a few hours without even trying. She had perfect aim, perfect stance and her force was perfect too. Who was Brutus to tell her she didn't?

The only things that kept her from storming out of the room was the picture in her mind of Brutus and Cato replacing the dummies in front of her, and the comforting _crack_'s of the whips hitting their target.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Brutus sat in the District Two lounge with Enobaria at his side. Eve and Cato had headed off to the training room for their individual scoring about ten minutes ago.

He was glad he'd made Eve angry in her training; when the girl was at her angriest, she was capable of doing absolutely anything. She hadn't done badly at all, but he knew if he told her she did, she'd be driven to her full potential.

But there was still the fighting with Cato. He'd told Enobaria about his plans for the two tributes the morning after his encounter with Snow, when Eve and Cato were at training.

She and Snow had accepted the plan openly, and it was just a matter of time until the idea became reality. He grinned maliciously. It was going to work.

* * *

That night, Cato and Eve sat on opposite sides of the couch with Enobaria and Brutus in-between them. The TV flashed and suddenly Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith were on-screen, their grins stretching up to their ears.

_"Hello, Panem!"_ Caesar began. _"Hasn't it been a glorious day today? What with the weather being so delicious, the tributes performing for the Gamemakers, the Capitol cheering so brightly... I'd bet my hat that this has been the best day this year!"_

Eve snorted out a laugh. She was proud of the way she'd performed for the Gamemakers today. She'd used whips, knives and spears, and had hit everything perfectly.

"_My my Caesar, I do think you're right!" _Claudius chuckled._ "Now, shall we announce the tribute's scores?"_

"_We shall, Claudius! Would you like to start us off?"_

_"I would." _Claudius flashed a wide grin at the camera before looking down at the files in front of him. "_For District One, Marvel Fletcher, with a score of... Nine!"_ Eve smiled. She'd definitely get a higher score than that. _"And Glimmer Lapierre, also from District One, with a score of Eight!"_ Easy to beat.

_"District One didn't do as well this year as they have in earlier years then!" _Caesar laughed. _"Now, for District Two!"_ Eve smiled. Here it was, her moment. _"Cato Larek, with a score of... Ten!"_

She looked at Cato while Enobaria and Brutus congratulated him curtly. He sat still with a blank look on his face that made Eve smirk. He was worried that she would get a higher score than him.

_"Eve Hadley, also from District Two, with a score of..."_ She turned to the TV and watched as Caesar looked down at the file. _"Ten!."_

She heard Cato sigh in relief, and Eve just nodded. She was satisfied with a 10 (nobody ever got higher), but a part of her wanted to beat Cato again. She ignored the competitive feeling welling in her gut.

The District Three guy got a Six and the girl got a Five; nothing to worry about there, and then it was District Four.

Eve and Cato both leaned forward for this. Crellis and Lucille were their biggest threats, or so they thought, and it was important they paid attention to them.

_"Now for District Four!" _Claudius announced. _"Crellis Parr, with a score of Ten, and Lucille DeBleur, with an equal score of Ten!"_

Well, shit.

Crellis and Lucille had gotten the same score as her and Cato. Shit, shit, shit. She looked at Cato, but without the normal amount of disgust she usually directed at him. It felt weird to her. He looked back, and for once they looked at each other through respect and understanding, not through hate.

But she could tell he was thinking the same thing that she was; District Four was a threat. A big one.

* * *

_DUN DUN DUUUUH! And the plan's been revealed! I actually love it, but I bet you're disappointed._

_But it's a major twist so_

_DEAL_

_WITH_

_IT!_

_A massive thanks to Frick6101719 for helping me get over my writers block, and a big ol' thanks to those of you who've favourited, followed and especially reviewed! U gaiz r sah kwl x0x0x0x_

_PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a dinky little review or send me a PM, I honestly love knowing what people think of this story. If you think there's something I've done wrong then do either and I'll try to fix it! I want this story to be the BEST it can be, so criticism is good!_

_Eva xox_


	7. The Eleven

The other District scores flew by and no others scores stood out until District Eleven.

_"Thresh Guard, with a score of Nine!"_ Caesar exclaimed with his usual cheer, and Cato's hands flew to his face. He didn't expect this years tributes to be so high-scoring. He wasn't prepared for _that many_ serious opponents. He now had to watch out for not only Eve, Marvel, Glimmer, Crellis and Lucille, but now Thresh as well.

The twelve-year-old from Eleven got a Seven, and Cato was surprised, and felt a certain respect for her. Being so little, she'd obviously been undermined. But it hurt his head to think about what she could've done to get such a high score for a twelvie.

Then his anger levels soared. The blonde haired boy from District Twelve's image flashed up on the screen, and Cato sneered at it viciously. Brutus looked at Cato like he was crazy to see Peeta as a threat.

_"District Twelve's Peeta Mellark, with a score of..." _Cato held his breath._ "Eight!"_

It wasn't that good of a score. He shouldn't have been fucked off, but he was. District Twelve never got that high, and what in Panem's name did the fire shit do to get it? Throwing weights wouldn't get an eight on its own.

Cato looked at Eve again. They were both being shown up by Twelve, and he understood for once why the glare was spread across her face. She had her fists balled up, and Cato looked down at his own hands to see that they were also in fists. He took in, her blazing eyes and her angered red face and understood it all completely.

He watched as Eve got up and wandered, dream-like, over to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out of it.

But then came Katniss Everdeen. Her image appeared on-screen and Cato narrowed his eyes at her, as if she could see him, as if he could make her wither away to nothing with one look.

_"Also from District Twelve, Katniss Everdeen. With a score of..."_

Somehow Cato knew deep down. He knew that she would do it. But it still shocked him when Claudius read out the number.

* * *

"Eleven."

Eve felt like somebody had driven a spear through her head and down through her body.

_Eleven_.

She couldn't take it. Anger surged through her immediately and its force drove her fist through the window.

She hadn't even noticed Esme was in the same room, and she hardly heard the representative shriek as the glass shattered into millions of pieces and flew down onto the pavement below. Esme's shriek was followed by about five more from citizens down on the street.

"EVE!" Esme yelled. She stormed over to her, but Eve punched her in the face and stalked out of the room.

* * *

Esme crumpled to the floor in a second, and Cato had barely got his head around the situation before Eve was stalking out of the room, kicking walls and smashing glasses on the way.

He watched her leave, almost with _pity_, but then the same anger Eve had felt slammed into him harder than a truck. He felt his face morph from annoyed to completely, blindingly furious and then he walked over to the TV and ripped it off the wall and flung it to the ground. Esme wasn't conscious to shriek this time, and he did exactly what Eve had done and stormed out, this time to his room.

* * *

"I need a drink." Brutus muttered as he bandaged Esme's head, and Enobaria just looked at the broken television and shattered window.

She was pissed off. Pissed that Eve and Cato had trashed the room and stormed out, but more so that the pathetic District Twelve scum had fucked her tributes over. It had to have been a fluke, hadn't it? She'd talk to Seneca Crane tomorrow, before the interviews. Then she thought of something.

"Brutus." She said, and he turned to look at her.

"Mm?" He mumbled.

"We need to tell Eve and Cato. We can't leave it any later."

She noticed Brutus pause as he remembered what she meant, then he nodded. "Now?"

"Now." Her tone was final. "You tell her, I'll tell him."

"Alright." He exhaled out the word, and then they both headed to their tribute's rooms.

* * *

In the dark of her room, Eve was pacing.

She couldn't deal with it. She was _fuming._ First, Twelve showed them up in the Tribute Parade, then they barely did _anything_ in training, and now this? It was like Johanna Mason's plan, to play their skills down until need be, but this was even more provoking.

How FUCKING dare they do that to her. She felt her fingers curl back into her hands and then, as if uncontrollably, she slammed her fists into the wall so hard that the plaster dented and split.

Then she heard a creek, and her blazing eyes cast towards the door. She expected it to be Esme, coming to force her to apologise for knocking her out, but instead it was Brutus.

She glared at him and flicked her black hair out of her eyes. "What?" She snarled at him. "If you've come to make me apologise then you're wasting your time." Her fists remained balled up as she looked at him angrily.

"It's not that."

"Then what is it, Brutus?" She sighed. Her tone dropped to a tired-of-being-angry calmness. "Just tell me."

"Enobaria's talking to Cato about it now. We decided it would be best to tell you now while there was nothing else to be broken." He laughed shortly, but his face remained serious.

"And?"

Brutus exhaled deeply. "You and Cato fight too much." He looked at her, but she just raised an eyebrow. "So Enobaria and I have come up with a plan. We've talked to President Snow and Seneca Crane and told them all about it, and they've already spread the word around the Capitol. You can't back out of this, Hadley." He said firmly. "If you try to, Snow will kill you."

She felt the dismay spread across her face like wildfire. "What? What plan?"

Brutus looked her dead in the eye as he spoke the next few words. "You and Cato have to act madly in love."

* * *

Cato sat on the edge of his bed with his face in his palms, looking at the wreckage in front of him. He couldn't believe it. He simply couldn't _believe _it.

When Enobaria had barged into his room and told him about the plans for him and Eve, he'd thrown a chair at her and she'd walked out gracefully. He'd then trashed the whole room, tearing the bed sheets to ribbons, slamming the furniture around until there was nothing left and smashing every window and mirror nearby.

Now he was left in the rubble of his tribute room, with nothing left but a strong hate bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

He decided he needed sleep, so he quickly removed his shirt and pants, leaving him in just his underwear, and slipped into the torn up bed. No matter how hard he tried to sleep, the thoughts kept him awake.

Maybe it was part of Eve's ultimate plan to bring him down. Maybe she'd suggested it to the mentors. He thought about this briefly. Was that what she was whispering about to Enobaria? She could have done it, but the idea seemed too extreme, even for Eve.

He needed to clear his head; or at least have some sort of distraction. Any distraction. Immediately, he reached for the remote and flicked the TV on. Surely enough Caesar and Claudius were hosting the Capitol News, which in his opinion was completely pointless. All the program consisted of was talk about the "Do's and Don'ts of Capitol fashion!" and hideous things like that. But he needed something to take his mind away from Eve and the mess they'd been thrust into.

"_And that was Ellia Marlass with the Capitol weather forecast!" _He watched as Caesar dismissed the purple weather girl and the cameras all flew back to him and Claudius.

"_Now, you must all have become familiar with this years Tribute's, huh?" _Claudius giggled pathetically, and Cato just stayed still. "_So you must have heard about the little... bond we have between the District Two tributes, Eve and Cato?"_

Great. Just great. This was what Cato was trying to get away from, and now it was on the news, in front of the whole of Panem obviously _not for the first time_, and it was being shoved down his throat.

_"Yes Claudius! How could we have forgotten about our little lovebirds? As you must all know by now, Cato and Eve were caught _sneaking up to the roof _of the Training Centre a couple of nights ago together, and were apparently spotted kissing!"_

Cato couldn't move. It was already everywhere. The news was already told to the rest of Panem, and the story wasn't clever at all. Which was good for him.

Nobody would fall for it.

_Would they?_ He knew the question would haunt him for the rest of the night at least.

_"And last night, Mr. Larek was caught in the lounge of the District Two apartment with Eve on his LAP! And they were 'making out'! I believe that's the hip new phrase, isn't it?" _The announcers laughed.

He lunged for the remote just as the pair began talking about even more of their 'little meetings', and flicked the screen off.

He just didn't know what to do with himself.

For a start, he closed his eyes and lay back on the bed. He knew it affected her just as much as it did him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was all Eve's fault.

* * *

_Eeeeeek! So Eve and Cato know about the plan now! What do you think? Do you like where the story's heading?_

_Please don't forget to leave a review or send a PM :) I promise you I'm a nice person_

_Eva xox_


	8. Couple of the Century

The next morning, Eve sat at the dining table with her hands in her lap doing nothing but staring at the plate of food in front of her. It was raining outside; the soft pitter-patter of the water on the window was the only thing keeping her sane. Brutus was shovelling food down his throat, as was Enobaria, but Eve wasn't hungry. She couldn't even think straight.

Was it Cato's fault she had to be put through all this? Had he done something out of spite and jealously meaning to ruin her chances of becoming victor? No, it couldn't have been him, because it dragged him down just as much.

She looked diagonally across the table at her District partner. Cato sat there gently pushing his food around, staring at it with no fascination whatsoever. He looked like he just couldn't bear to look at anything else. It was exactly how she felt. Brutus and Enobaria were absorbed in some sort of discussion now, probably about what to make her and Cato say in the interviews, but Eve couldn't make sense of any of the words. Esme was glaring at her as she ate, her nose misshapen and bruised from the punch.

Looking back down at her breakfast, Eve thought about the day ahead of her.

She looked at the purple clock on the wall above them: now she was having breakfast, and at 9.00am she was supposed to have Interview Training with Brutus. That was supposed to last two hours, and then she had about seven hours of hanging about the apartment, waiting until 6.00pm, when she'd be prepared for the interviews at 7. She felt her face turn sour.

She wasn't looking forward to them. At all.

* * *

An hour later Eve sat in a small white room with leather black couches, a coffee table, standing lamps and huge bay windows that looked out towards the Capitol streets. Brutus sat opposite her on a similar sofa with his head in his hands. "Brutus. This is pathetic. I don't need to do this." She told him firmly. She was good with people and never got stage fright. Wasn't it already obvious that she would do well in the interviews without any help?! She didn't understand why he had to keep pushing her and pushing her until she was nearly insane. There was still one thing she refused to do, but did that really matter?

"No Eve, listen!" He yelled. "You DO need to do this! You need to _get over yourself_ and accept that you have to fucking go along with being in love with Cato!" He stood and kicked the sofa. Hard. "I thought this plan would _work!_ I thought it would stop you two fighting and get you into the Arena in one piece! But instead it's just turned you both into pathetic, useless _shits_!" He picked up one of the lamps and threw it across the room. "So hey, you know what? _Fuck you, Eve!_ I'm not even going to bother anymore!" And then he walked out and slammed the door behind him.

She stared after him with her mouth agape. She couldn't do this anymore, she thought. She couldn't.

* * *

The next few hours passed in an angry, paranoid blur and Eve now sat on a small chair in a huge blue room with Luno as he fitted her outfit. She was grimacing, mostly because of the way Brutus had forced the two of them to smile at each other and hold hands on the way to the Interview set. Cato had been extremely reluctant but nevertheless he'd acted flawlessly, while Eve was struggling to keep eye contact with anybody, especially him. She growled as Luno stuck a pin in her side.

"Oh! Evie, I'm so sorry! I'm almost done!" He chatted.

She stared up at the ceiling, thinking happily of her whips and imagining slashing Cato to ribbons with them as he stood still, screaming and crying and yelling for her to stop.

"Tadah! Finished!" Luno stepped away from her and smiled widely, then clasped his hands together and brought them up to his chin. "You look gorgeous."

She stood up warily, feeling fabric brush against her thigh. What had Luno put her in? Her scowl got a lot worse, but then she saw herself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and couldn't help but smile.

She looked moderately nice. Her stylist had put her in a white knee-length dress with a single shoulder sleeve. She realised that it was like her costume for the tribute parade, except now he hair was _meant_ to be loose, the dress had a heck of a lot lower back that dropped to just above her ass and the length of it in general was only down to her knee's. It wasn't tight against her, but it did make her curves look a lot sexier. She was wearing black high-heels, too.

Her make-up was dark; she knew he'd put eyeliner on her eyelid as well as under her eyes. This, grey eye-shadow and a heck-of-a-lot of mascara made her look like a war goddess, one that was focused fully on victory.

But she couldn't stop her heart from sinking. She looked okay, yes, but she was completely positive that every other girl in the Games would look even better. She knew that even if she did look better than she thought, it was all fake. She probably just looked like a plain, ugly girl trying too hard. But Luno would have a fit if she let him know how stupid she felt.

"I like it." She said, trying to smile as wide as she could. Luno didn't pick up on the sadness she was trying to hide and leapt around happily.

"Oh, I'm so glad you do! I was really worried that you wouldn't and then I'd had to have modify it! OH! And I heard the news about you and Cato, huh?" He winked at her. Anger replaced the depression and it was all she could do not to attack him. "Cutest. Couple. OF the century."

He continued to babble on about how he always knew there was something going on between them, but interrupting rudely, she said: "Can we go?"

Luno immediately shut up and stopped jumping, but kept the smile plastered on his orange face. "I think we should head out, yes!" He hopped merrily over to the door and opened them, the bowed. "After you, you little smitten kitten." He joked.

She didn't laugh.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Cato sat stood in the line for the Interviews while Glimmer flirted her way through her interview.

"_Now Glimmer, are you prepared?"_

"_Yes, Caesar. I am _very_ prepared._" He faintly heard her announce, and he looked to the screen on his left as it focused on her. Cato noticed how she puffed out her chest and pursed her lips, leaned slightly forward to show even more cleavage, crossed her legs so that the whole of Panem could see slightly up her skirt. He almost threw up.

"_That's good, that's assurance! Self-assurance! Even better!"_ Caesar said_._

Cato looked at Eve, and not for the first knew about the interest Crellis had shown in her; the District Four asshole had asked him about whether he planned on nailing her anytime soon, and Cato had scoffed and said that nothing in the world would make him ever want to have sex with Eve. Crellis had shortly said "good" and then strutted off, and Cato had realised that while he hated every inch of her, he still didn't want her hanging around that creep.

But it wasn't any of his business. He didn't care. He wouldn't interfere.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful Glimmer!" _Cato watched the small screen on the wall and saw Glimmer giddily stand up and kiss Caesar on the cheek before skittering off to the opposite wing of the stage. _"Wasn't she lovely, folks?"_ Caesar said and the crowd roared.

Now it was Cato's turn. He wasn't nervous. He wasn't worried. But he was sure pissed.

Pissed that Brutus and Enobaria had talked to Caesar beforehand and made sure that he'd ask him and Eve about their 'romance'. That he had to say cheesy things about how, despite their once frosty relationship, they'd always had deeper feelings just waiting to be addressed and blah blah blah. He unconsciously began wringing his hands together.

"Nervous?" A voice broke through his thoughts.

He looked over his shoulder at Eve and threw a grin at her. "Not in the slightest."

"Good." She said, and brushed a long strand of hair out of her eyes. "Don't screw this up."

Cato ignored her and turned away just as Caesar finished introducing him: "_Can we all please give a warm welcome to one of our little lovebirds, Cato Larek!"_

Cato took one deep breath before walking smoothly out onto the stage. The first thing that hit him was the noise. The crowd was hysterical. Some were clapping, some were cheering, some were whistling. Most were doing the whole bundle. It was deafening, but he knew it was a good sign. He forced his signature smirk onto his face as he sat down on the massive white arm chair.

"Ah, Cato! It's so nice to have you here!" Caesar said, more to the crowds than to Cato himself.

"It's nice to be here, Caesar!" Cato said confidently. He grinned widely at the host, then at the crowd, before crossing his leg over his knee.

Caesar laughed, and the audience cheered ecstatically. "Now, we don't have much time so I'm just going to jump right in. Would you care to tell us about your little interest in your District partner, Miss Eve Hadley? We're all positively_ dying_ to know more!" And there it was. The most testing question Cato had ever faced, but the words rolled effortlessly off his tongue.

"Well what would you like to know?"

Caesar laughed, as did the rest of the audience. "Well let's start with when you realised how madly in love with her you are, would you care to explain?"

Cato laughed falsely. Here it was. The make or break moment. He could do this. After subtly taken a few deep breaths, he talked. "Can I let you in on a little secret, Caesar?" He whispered, flaunting a fake smile.

"Of course!" Caesar was ecstatic.

Cato leaned towards the audience a bit. "Me and Eve always hated each other. Back in Two we were sort of arch-enemies." At least something he'd said was true.

The crowd gasped, and Caesar did too before asking: "Wait wait wait, so why the sudden change?"

Enobaria had basically forced the next words down Cato's throat, so it was almost easy to recite them. "It's a long story." Cato let out a sigh before continuing. "We'd always hated each other, since we were little, and I hated everything about her probably until the chariot rides. She suddenly just seemed so... so real, and so beautiful that I couldn't help but start liking her. I always felt something towards her other than hate but I always tried to get rid of it, but I couldn't this time. It hit me like a truck and I couldn't keep it hidden anymore. That night after dinner I pulled her up to the roof and told her how I feel and I thought 'wow, I've creeped her out', but she smiled and told me that she felt the same, and since then we've never been closer."

The crowd aww-ed and Cato was sure he heard people start sobbing. "That's lovely. Truly magical." Caesar said to him with a smile, but Cato knew that he wasn't convinced.

Cato felt worry unfurl in his gut, but despite it he focused even more on his words. "It's a nice little story, yes. It's just a shame that it had to happen before the Games." He forced himself to look sad.

The people in the crowd who were snivelling before had fully burst out into tears. Obviously the Capitol was convinced. "But don't forget, all the greatest love stories are tragedies." Caesar waggled a dark finger at him.

"It's not fair."Cato sniffed falsely.

"Well I'm sure we've all had enough of this sad, sad story, so let's continue, hmm?" Caesar purred and leant back in his chair. "So, what do you think about your chances in the Games tomorrow, Cato?"

Cato leant back too, suddenly relieved he'd gotten that over and done with. Now was his time to be confident. "Well it isn't about chance, in my opinion. It's about skill and strength, and I have both." He grinned. "It's an honour representing my District like this. I know I can win."

"You're a fighter."Caesar mused.

"I'm prepared. I'm vicious. I'm ready to go." He said, and Caesar smiled at him as the crowd cheered loudly.

"Well then we wish you all the best." The brightly coloured host exclaimed, but then he leant forwards and murmured: "In more ways than one." Cato was sure he saw a spark of sadness flare in Caesars eyes, but then it was gone.

Caesar stood up. Cato copied swiftly and Caesar grabbed his hand gently before raising it to the sky. The Capitol crowd burst out into the loudest applause so far and Cato grinned widely.

"Cato!" Caesar called out before laughed happily and letting go of his hand. Cato waved at the crowd and walked confidently off to the opposite wing.

* * *

_YAAAAAAAY Cato's interview! Originally I had Eve saying all of that stuff, but I changed it at the last minute because it needed to be introduced. Do you think I made the right choice or not? Her interview's next chapter eeeeek!_

_MASSIVE THANK YOU to everybody who's been reading and favouriting and reviewing and following and PMing me! I love you all 3 __I'll proofread this chapter tomorrow because it's now 11:52 at night and I've got a maths exam tomorrow. Go me._

_Thanks a bunch, don't forget to leave a review!_

_Eva xox_


	9. Lovely Lady

Eve watched as Cato walked off, her nails once again digging into the flesh of her palms. He'd made it seem so easy, just sauntering up there and gushing his heart out with fake love for her.

"_Now for the lovely lady Cato was telling us about! Ladies and gentlemen, Eve Hadley!"_ Caesar chimed, and Eve growled before walking up.

She blocked out the cheering and the screaming as she walked over to the arm-chair, a massive, eccentric grin dominating her features. She was focusing on what she was going to say. She felt the white fabric of her dress brushing against her thigh and her hair against her bare back as she walked, both sensations so familiar and soothing that the anger was starting to subside.

"And here she is, looking as beautiful as ever!" Caesar laughed, and Eve did too as he gestured to the love seat behind her. He sat in his own chair as she drifted down on to hers.

"Thank you Caesar." She beamed. "And you're looking equally beautiful."

The crowd laughed, and Caesar leant back in his chair. "My dear, Capitol remedies do a lot of things but they don't sort out split ends!" He chuckled and stroked his pony tail. "Now, on to more pressing subjects! Is it true that you and Cato hated each other until the Tribute Parade?"

She beamed at the crowd before turning her attention back to him. "Yes." She smiled. "He was always such an idiot. You know, rude, mean, selfish, cocky, arrogant... That was Cato." She laughed nervously.

"But is he different now? Surely he must be if you started caring so much." Caesar grinned.

"Not really."

The crowd began laughing hysterically, and Eve smiled falsely, weakly. She was stumbling for words and her heart was fluttering in panic. "So we've heard about when you both declared your love for one another from the man himself. What were you thinking when Cato pulled you up to the roof that night?"

"Well at first I thought he was going to pick a fight with me." She chuckled. "But I knew he'd never be stupid enough to do that." Caesar laughed. "And then when he said 'I love you', I was partially just relieved not to have to knock him out." The crowd roared happily. She continued. "And after I got over the shock, I realised that I felt the same, and I told him that. We were going to try and keep it a secret, but then Brutus found out and decided to spread it around." She had to bite back the venom. At least she'd thrown some truth into that.

People in the crowd began cooing again, just like they had for Cato, and Eve knew she'd done okay, though something about the way Caesar was looking at her made her unsure. Nevertheless, the host wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "That's truly beautiful."

"It's just as unfortunate though." Eve reminded him as she flicked a strand of hair out of her eye.

"Yes yes, it is indeed." He agreed. "Anyway, we don't have much time left so let's continue, hmm? Do you think this bond between you and Cato will affect your chances of winning?"

"Of course it will." She grinned maliciously. "It will make us invincible. We're both such good fighters, and with us being in love, we'll be unstoppable." She tilted her head up proudly. "And we'll be doing it together."

"But what will you do if you two are the last ones left?" Caesar gasped.

She looked to the crowd and saw people on the verge of tears. "Well we'll just have to wait and see." She said. Caesar nodded, and then he stood. Eve quickly got up off the white love seat and stood next to him, smiling as beautifully as she could.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Panem, Eve Hadley!" The crowd was in hysterics. Claps, cheers, whistles, the thudding of feet against the floor, all sounds echoing around the massive room. Caesar bowed and kissed her hand, and after another few seconds Eve was walking off to the opposite wing.

* * *

Lucille watched as Crellis effortlessly answered his questions, winking at ladies in the crowd. She grinned a toothy, sinister grin. At least one of them was going to put effort into their answers; she had the intention of just brushing the non-violent ones aside.

Eve and Cato had gone through their interviews all lovey-dovey, and she'd felt like throwing up. It was repulsing and weak to claim they had some sort of fling going on, and if anybody else had noticed the way they glared at each other and balled up their fists when the other one spoke, they would realise that it was just as fake as Lucille knew it to be.

Yes, they were good with weapons. Yes, they were skilled. But this charade was just low. It ruined their chances, and Lucille was almost disappointed in them.

She'd been so looking forward to fighting an equal fight with the tributes from Two, and now they'd gone and taken away her mercy. She'd just have to kill them.

"_People of Panem, please welcome to the stage, Lucille DeBleur!"_

* * *

"From District Twelve. District Twelve, you know her as the _Girl on Fire_! But we know her as the lovely Katniss Everdeen!" Caesar flourished his hand towards the wing, and out came Katniss in a bright red, absolutely _hideous _dress.

Eve sunk into the sofa. She was back in the apartment, in the living room to be exact. Cato was next to her drinking a repulsing kind of broth made to subside the pain in his head from when Eve had attacked, and it was making Eve's nose wrinkle. Brutus and Enobaria sat down the other end of the couch, each completely silent. The only sounds rushing around the apartment were Caesar's voice blaring from the television and the four of them breathing raggedly.

The TV had been replaced after it was ripped off the wall, and the living room and Eve and Cato's bedrooms had also been righted along with it.

Eve scowled at the screen as Katniss walked out onto the stage, her face completely blank and lifeless. Caesar's expression of excitement barely covered the two of them, but it was enough to keep the crowd cheering. "So Katniss, that was _some entrance_ you made at the Tribute Parade." He smiled, his blue hair wobbling uncertainly. "Would you like to tell what your thoughts were when you emerged?"

She stared at him and he raised an eyebrow. Eve started to laugh, but the stench of Cato's drink wafted around her and the smirk disappeared. "What?" Katniss looked puzzled, and the Capitol crowd laughed. Caesar grinned kindly.

"I think someone's a little nervous. I said, that was quite an entrance that you made at the Tribute Parade the other day. Do you want to tell us about it?"

She looked flustered. "Well I was just... hoping that I wouldn't burn to death." The crowd laughed.

Caesar smiled at her. "When you came out of that chariot, I have to say, my heart stopped. Did any of you experience this as well." He turned to the audience and was rewarded with a roar of whistling and cheering. "My heart _stopped_." He looked at Katniss, who just sat there lifeless.

Then her shoulders sagged and she smiled weakly. "So did mine." Caesar and the crowd both laughed.

"Now tell me about the flames, are they real?"

"Yes." She looked out at the crowd, and Eve heard Brutus huff.

"This is so pathetic." He snarled at the screen. Eve turned her attention back to Katniss.

"In fact I'm wearing them today. Would you like to see?"

Eve grunted; it was so obvious she'd rehearsed that hundreds of times.

The crowd roared, but Caesar hesitated. "Wait, wait, wait. Is it safe?"

Katniss giggled. Eve was beginning to hate gigglers. "Yes."

"What do you think folks?" The crowd went wild, and Katniss stood up and stepped slightly forward. "I think that's a yes!"

"This is bullshit." Enobaria began picking at her teeth.

Katniss started twirling. Flames rose up from her ankles and lapped up to her thighs, not even singing the fabric. Eve heard Cato start choking up his broth. People in the crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed, but Eve just brought her knees up to her chest and held them tightly, even as her arms began to shake. Katniss began smiling as she slowed the turns. She stumbled back to her seat, obviously dizzy.

"Whoah! Steady, steady!" Caesar guided her back down. "Lovely, thank you!" He yelled above the crowds hysteria. "That was really something. That... that was something. That was _something_. Thank you for that." He repeated the words, almost as if he was trying to believe his eyes.

Cato slammed his mug down on the coffee table. "That was _something_? That was pathetic, girly _shit_! That's what it was! What the fuck is she-"

"Shut it!" Eve leered at him before focusing fully on the screen.

"I have one more question for you." Caesar leaned forward. "It's about your sister. We were all very moved, I think, when you volunteered for her at the Reaping. Did she come and say goodbye to you?

Eve felt a pang of guilt at first; this was the first time she'd found out that Katniss had volunteered for her sister. She felt small, uneducated, and almost guilty that she felt so angry at Twelve, when all she was trying to do was go home to her sister. But she brushed the feeling aside. She didn't care about the mushy stories, she didn't care about love. All she cared about was winning.

Katniss' facade faltered for a minute and Eve noticed her nervous blinking, but soon Blank Katniss was back, and she stared at Caesar like he was a wall. "Yes. She did."

"She did. And what did you say to her, in the end?"

"I told her that I would try to win. That I would try to win for her." The crowd gushed.

"Of course you did. And try you will." He leant down and kissed her hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, from District Twelve, Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire!" He held her hand up to the sky and the Capitol crowd boomed louder than it had for her and Cato combined. She dug her nails into her legs as Katniss walked off.

"I've had enough." Cato announced, and grabbed his drink before walking out to his room. Eve somehow knew that he would watch Peeta's interview on the TV in his room, but she couldn't care any less what he did.

"And now, also from District Twelve, please welcome Peeta Mellark!" Caesar laughed happily as the crowd went nuts. "Peeta, welcome! Now, how are you finding the Capitol? Don't say really bad." He said with joke warning.

"It's uh... it's different! It's very different from back home."

"Different. In what way? Give us an example."

Peeta took a breath as he considered it. "Uh, okay. Well the uh, the showers here are weird." Despite all the pauses and 'uh's, Peeta seemed confident and happy. Eve dug her nails in deeper.

"Showers!" The crowd started laughing along with Caesar.

"Yes." Peeta smiled widely.

"We have different _showers._" The laughing increased.

"I have a question for you, Caesar. Do I smell like roses to you?" The people in the crowd laughed uncontrollably, and Brutus sighed.

"Hell." Brutus muttered. "They weren't that loud for you."

Eve glared at him, but he just shrugged.

"Take a whiff!" Peeta offered his neck to the host as he smiled at the crowd.

"Um, alright..." Caesar said in-between confused expressions. He leant in and _sniffed_ Peeta, then backed away with a stupid grin on his face.

"Hmm, do I? Yes! Do I smell like..." Caesar leant towards Peeta and waited to be smelt. The crowd was going berserk.

Peeta smiled. "You definitely smell better than I do."

"Well I've lived here longer." Caesar, Peeta and the crowd's laughs and cheers all bounced around the apartment, and Eve slumped further down into the sofa. As the volume of the crowd lowered, Caesar spoke again "So Peeta, tell me. Is there a special girl back home?"

Peeta was smiling sadly. "No... no, not really."

"No? I don't believe it for a second! Look at that face! Handsome man like you! Peeta." He said, his tone serious. "Tell me."

Peeta sighed. "Well, there uh, there is this one girl that I've had a crush on forever." He took a deep breath, and Caesar hummed out in understanding before he continued. "But I don't think she actually recognised me until the Reaping."

The screen showed people in the crowd who were wiping away tears, just like they had for her and Cato. She seethed. "Well I'll tell you what, Peeta." He pointed at him. "You go out there and you win this thing, and when you get home... She'll _have_ to go out with you. Right folks?" He raised his eyebrows at the audience, who cheered loudly. Caesar laughed merrily, but when Peeta started speaking every single person fell silent.

"Thanks, but uh, I don't think winning's going to help me at all." He frowned into his lap, then at Caesar.

"And why not?"

Peeta was breathing deeply, almost as if considering whether to say the next few words. Eve's head spun. Winning wouldn't help him at all? She considered all the options. The girl had died after he had left, she already loved someone else, she was somebody out of his league that he couldn't be with... And then, with her eyes wide, the realisation dawned on her.

"Because she came here with me." He said after a long pause.

Brutus and Enobaria both started screeching things, but Eve couldn't make sense of their yells over the sound of the blood pumping in her ears. White spots clouded her vision as she stood up, hatred flowing through her, but she didn't tear down the television. She didn't shatter the window. She didn't punch Esme's face in. Instead, she walked out to her room with whatever dignity she had, Caesar and Peeta still talking through the screen, and locked the door behind her.

In the safety of her room, Eve cried.

* * *

_And that was Chapter 9! I just love Eve and Cato's thoughts towards Katniss and how the Peeniss relationship has been tied into this. But it isn't about my opinion. It's about yours. So let me know. Leave a review, leave a PM._

_THANKS A BUNCH YOU LOVELY, GORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL READERS!_

_Eva xox_


	10. Barriers

Hours later, she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and unable to sleep. She was twiddling her thumbs over the silver sheets, a habit she hadn't done for over ten years.

She was worrying about everything. The pathetic romance between the Twelve tributes. The fake one between her and Cato. The Games tomorrow. Brutus and Enobria. Her dead brother Carson and his Games. Her weak little mother and whether or not she'd left her abusive husband yet.

Showing_ pain and fear means you're weak, and if you're weak you're as good as dead to me..._

She pushed the bed sheets away and rose up off the bed. She was in a pair of blue pyjama shorts and a grey top, so luckily she didn't have to worry about changing into more decent clothes for where she was going. She pulled her pony tail tighter and opened the door almost silently before she made her way into the lift and pressed **_Training Room_****. **

After a couple of seconds, the lift doors swung open with a comforting 'ding' to reveal the all but empty Training Room, the lights reflecting off the blades almost like a challenge, daring her to use them.

Eve forced air into her lungs through the thick layers of anger and sadness and annoyance and began walking over to the shelves of knives on the far wall of the room, when she suddenly heard somebody cough.

Eve ducked behind the closest pillar instinctively, but after realising that there wasn't an actual threat she straightened up and looked around.

Cato was standing over by a crowd of dismantled dummies to her right, holding a sword in one hand and wiping his nose with the other, his face looking especially pale in the dim lights. Eve was too pissed off to deal with him, so she spun around and started walking back towards the lift.

He must have heard her, because as soon as the lift doors swung back open, his voice froze her to the spot. "Who's there?" When he realised it was her, he huffed and turned his back to her. "Eve."

Noticing the aggression in his voice, Eve turned to face him and folded her arms. "Sorry to interrupt whatever you're doing. I was just going anyway." She snarled.

"Fine by me." He hissed back.

Eve turned back and was about to start storming back towards the lift, but she refused to leave without making him as miserable as she was.

"Actually, I'm fine here." She said. "And if you've got a problem with me being here, then you can be the one to clear out."

Cato turned to face her. "Look, Eve, I'm really not in the mood to deal with your shit right now. So either stay here and don't talk to me or leave." Eve picked up on the tiredness in his tone immediately. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he looked lonely and weak, though just as strong and stubborn as he usual.

She noticed the bags under his eyes and a thought ran through her head. "How long have you been down here?"

He put his sword back on the rack and picked over the spears. "Minutes, hours." He shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Considering the Games are tomorrow, I think it does." She huffed. "It'd be pathetic if you died from exhaustion before they even started."

"We both know that's not going to happen." He grabbed the largest spear and weighed it in his right hand.

Eve held up her hands in fake defeat. "Alright, blondie."

Cato narrowed his eyes at her in response and positioned himself near the next set of dummies. Eve grabbed a smaller spear from the rack and took her place next to him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm _knitting_." She spat out, sarcasm dripping off her words. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?!" She threw her spear and watched as it slammed through the groin of the blue dummy. Cato flinched and grabbed his crotch, as if he felt the spear drive through him. "You have no idea how much I wish it were you in front of me, instead of the dummy." She hissed.

Cato humphed and threw his larger spear, the whole thing diving straight through the forehead of one of the dummies and emerging out of the other side. Eve shrugged, as close to a compliment as she dared to get, and Cato walked over to the set of dummies and pulled out both of them. He held the smaller one out to Eve.

"I could've got that."

Cato tilted his head and shoved it at her. "I beat you to it." He said before walking over to the metal bench nearby.

Eve noticed just how cold it was in the Training Room at that moment. Goosebumps were prickling up all over her skin and her arms were beginning to shake.

"You cold?" He said, picking up on her shivering.

"Of course I am. It's fucking freezing." She said icily.

"Do you want my jacket?"

Eve stared at him with her mouth open for a few seconds before finally answering. "What?"

"You heard me." He started taking off his jacket as he spoke.

"No. No I don't want your fucking jacket." She finally managed to say, still wholly surprised by his sudden niceness.

"Here." He held it out to her.

"I don't want it." She hissed, and turned away, but he got up and draped it over her shoulders. She gaped at him.

"What?" He said as he sat back down. "I was overheating and you said you were-"

"Don't. Just don't." She held up a hand. "I don't know what you're trying to do but stop. It's making me cringe."

"I'm _trying_ to be as friendly as I can without wanting to kill myself." He snarled.

"Watch yourself. If you go around being nice, people will think you've gone soft." She spat out, and pulled the jacket tight around her.

"We've both been forced into this, Eve. It isn't just you having to deal with all of it." He said, ignoring her.

She looked at him. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't realise how big this is?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"Then what _are_ you saying, Cato? Please. _Enlighten me._"

"I'm saying that maybe we should actually try." He ran his hand over his face and leant forward. "Maybe we should actually just go for it and _be_ madly in love. It's fowl that they're making us do this. Fuck, it's hell. But we can't back out of it. It's everywhere. Come on, you've got to admit you've seen the reports. They've made fake photos of us _kissing_, for fucks sake." He took deep breaths. Eve realised he was twiddling his thumbs.

Eve sat down next to him. "You make it sound so easy." She bit her lip and turned to face him. "But it isn't. This is one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I'm sure it is for you too."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. We can try to make it easier."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Well first of all you need to be nice to me."

She glared at him, but he was smiling. Her look eased, and she felt her eyes soften. She was soon smiling.

"I'm kidding."

Eve smiled. "I know."

"But seriously, we do need to be nice to each other if we're going to make this work." He said.

"Well that's a given." She laughed and Cato joined in.

"So." Eve started, changing the topic and breaking the laughter. "Have you noticed the little crush Esme has on you?" Cato furrowed his eyebrows. Eve continued. "Every time she's in the same room as you she gets all hot and flustered and has to leave." She laughed.

"That's because of me? I thought she had some sort of disease." Cato smiled. A genuine smile, and Eve noticed how it lit up his face. He suddenly looked a lot more handsome. He looked into her eyes, and though Eve felt uncomfortable she looked back, faintly hearing a hum coming from the lift. Then he started to speak; his tone slow and calm."I was thinking..."

Eve listened for a second, but Cato seemed unsure if he should continue. Eve was curious, so she pressed on. "What?"

Cato took a deep breath. "I was thinking maybe we should try some survival stations. I know the instructors aren't here, but it would be good to know the basics."

Eve felt disappointment bloom in her gut, but she nodded and stood up. "Where do you want to start?"

* * *

"It's okay. I think this side isn't fully burnt..." Cato said, turning over the opossum meat and narrowing his eyes in concentration.

The two of them had found a storage freezer behind the locked doors at the back of the Training Room and, after using a bobby pin from Eve's hair to pick the lock, they'd grabbed a few frozen dead animals and attempted to cook them on a fire they'd made with the leftover moss and twigs.

"You know, my mum never let me cook back home. Now I see why." She glanced at Cato. "Sorry about the meat."

Cato looked at her and grinned. "My dad once told me that people get offended if you tell them the truth about their cooking."

Eve frowned at him, but he just laughed.

"Everybody has their weaknesses though. For example, yours is cooking and mine is plant recognition." He smiled, but Eve wasn't listening. She was too busy focusing on the hum coming from the lift.

"Someone's coming down." She murmured, and sure enough just as soon as the words came out of her mouth, the lift doors slid open and Crellis stepped out.

"How touching. The lovebirds from Two fucking in the Training Room."

Eve's hands formed fists.

"You seem jealous." She snarled, and began walking towards the lift, towards _him_. Cato was already in the lift when Crellis stuck out his arm, obstructing Eve from advancing.

"Maybe I am." He hissed, but Eve saw the mischief in his eyes. "We're going to have a little chat, Hadley. Cato, could you give up some privacy?" He didn't look away from her.

"I'm not sure I should." Cato narrowed his eyes. This time Crellis looked at him.

"Cato, just go. I'll be fine." Eve told him. Cato looked confused at first, but then angry. He pressed one of the buttons and didn't look at her as the lift doors slid towards eachother.

He grabbed both of her shoulders as soon as they clicked shut and slammed her against the wall so hard that she felt the shock drum up her spine.

"You've been avoiding me." He murmured, and Eve shivered as she felt his breath on her cheek. "Why?"

"I would've thought you'd got the message." She hissed, just as he pressed into her leg. "It isn't like you to fawn over a girl is it, Crellis?"

"These are... different circumstances." He grinned, and before Eve had the chance to make a wise retort, he kissed her.

The kiss wasn't soft, it wasn't gentle. It was brutal and forceful and menacing. For a second or two Eve couldn't even understand what was happening. As soon as he shoved his tongue down her throat, she leapt into action. Her body moved fluently and instinctively, shoving, kicking, punching, thrashing... But he didn't budge, and instead he growled against her lips and pushed his tongue deeper, his hand shifting up her thigh. She fought and screamed, but nothing was making a difference. She felt his legs shift so that one was on either side of her bunched-together legs, a bulge pressing against her upper leg. He'd opened himself up.

She brought up her knee so hard that she almost felt the impact herself. Crellis stumbled backwards groaning, and Eve basically ran over to the lift and punched the button thrice, and she was in the lift within five seconds, the doors sliding comfortably shut. Just before the doors were fully closed, Crellis stood up still holding his crotch and smirked. A hideous, gruesome version of a smirk that was halfway between a grimace and a sneer, filled with blood and murder and mercilessness.

_The Games. _He mouthed, and then he was gone, the doors acting as a barrier between the two of them.

As the lift rose, Eve realised that she didn't want that barrier to be removed.

* * *

Cato walked out of the lift and towards his room with his head cloudy and his thumbs twiddling together. He was worried about whatever Eve and Crellis were talking about, but more so he was confused.

He had gotten on with Eve. He had _gotten on _with the girl he hated more than anything else. It was wrong, so incredibly horribly wrong. But somehow it was so natural and so enjoyable and right... He shook his head. Whatever thoughts he was having about Eve didn't matter. He still hated her.

Cato groaned and pushed open the door to his room, but froze when he heard somebody cough behind him. He swung around. Enobaria sat on the edge of the sofa, her arms propping up her head.

"Enobaria? What are y-"

"Shut up and take the phone." Cato realised that she was holding telephone, its sleek black colour shimmering.

"Who is it?"

"Your dad." She paused, smiling weakly. "You know District Two gets special treatment. Calling home is one of the many parts." She got up, still holding out the phone, and pulled him into a hug. Cato froze. _What the fuck?_

"Just... don't break anything." She added, and after patting him on the back and shoving the phone into his hand, she left.

He put it up to his ear, still completely confused.

"Hello?" He said.

_"Cato."_ His dad's voice cracked. And them he started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Dad? Dad, what is it? Are you okay?"

_"Nothing's okay. N-nothing at all."_ Cato sat down, afraid he'd fall over.

"What's happening? What's going on?" He was getting frantic. Something big had to have happened. His dad hardly ever cried.

_"It's... It's Aaron... H-he got trans-transferred to District T-Ten after you l-left. A r-riot broke out and the r-rebels set of a... a b-bomb and... and..."_ His dad was bawling so much he couldn't even finish. Cato felt tears pricking at his eyes.

"What happened?" He choked. Aaron was his only brother. He was a Peacekeeper, and the two of them were like peas in a pod. If Aaron was injured, he needed to find out. Now. "I need to know." He barely managed to say it. His dad cried harder.

"_Cato."_ He blubbered. Cato started sobbing. "_A-Aaron's dead._"

* * *

Cato sat on the couch with the phone still pressed to his ear, crying so loudly that he was all but positive everybody in the building could hear. His dad was still on the other end, and they were crying together. He cradled his head in one hand and was almost crushing the phone in the other.

The two of them stayed connected for what felt like hours. Eventually, Enobaria had come back through and calmed him down, telling him that it was all going to be okay and forcing him to hang up the phone. He didn't fight her when she hugged him. He didn't tell her to fuck off or make any attempt to do anything. He just sat there crying, shaking, feeling like a weight had been shoved down his throat.

_Aaron._

* * *

After Cato eventually pulled himself together, Enobaria led him to his room.

"You'll be okay. Just don't let it ruin you until you're out of the Games." She said calmly, and nodded once before turning on her heels and walking away.

He slid into the bed sheets silently, thinking about what his mentor had said. She was right: the breakdowns could wait.

He'd had his cry, but now he just had to shove the thoughts to the back of his mind. He'd put up a barrier. He'd continue hating Eve, despite what had happened in the Training Room. Whatever she and Crellis were doing together, he'd stay out of it. He'd be his old self. He'd forget everything and get on with it.

With one last tear rolling down his cheek, Cato closed his eyes.

He'd win. He was sure of it.

* * *

_I was crying as I wrote this chapter. Cato's shown this side of him that he doesn't let anybody see and I feel so horrible to have made his brother die to establish that. Cato's secretly this massive softy and is a really nice person underneath all his anger and violence, and I needed to get that across. As a side note, Aaron technically means 'brother', so I thought it would be kind of cool if I had that thrown in._

_But seriously, poor Eve! Crellis is horrible and now she's also got some mixed feeling about Cato? Sheesh._

_Anyway, thank you all so much for reading! I'm incredibly proud to say that this story has now had over 2,000 views which is AMAZING. I love the world. Please leave a review or PM me if you have any comments or queries!_

_Eva xox_


	11. Temporarily Permanent

Eve sat in the hovercraft staring straight ahead, the black shimmering wall in front of her suddenly becoming the most desirable thing in the room. A row of tributes, the pairs from Four, Five and Six, were sitting against the wall, Lucille and Crellis were making sure to keep their eyes trained on her and Cato. Eve felt disgusted.

On Eve's right was the boy from Three, and next to him, the girl from the same District. On her left was Cato, who looked as pissed off as Eve felt, and next to him was Glimmer, who was snuggling up against his shoulder and muttering things about how excited she was for the Games. He was shrugging her off and reminding her to "stay the fuck away" as calmly as he could manage, but Eve noticed his fists clenching and unclenching.

They were both pretty on edge, especially Eve after the scene on the roof with Crellis. _The Games_, he'd mouthed to her. She knew what he was planning but not the actual details of any of it. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to or not. All she knew was that she had to stay away from him, or as far away as she could considering she was going to be in the Career pack with him.

She hadn't told Cato about it, or either of the mentors, but somehow Brutus had found out about the whole ordeal and given her a ten-second warning before they'd gotten in the hovercraft, but Eve was smart enough to know that it was a threat and nothing more. He'd said: "Care to explain why I got a call from Snow this morning saying that you were pashing Crellis on the roof last night?" She'd tried to interrupt but he'd cut her off. "Just fuck up and listen. Things are gonna start happening if you don't fucking sort your shit out." Then he'd stared at her like she was gum on his shoe; just another piece of crap that he couldn't get rid of, another throw-away, a worthless nothing. It made her stomach churn.

She shook her head slightly as the hovercraft began to drop and leant towards Cato. "My bet's that Four's going to try and kill us the first chance they get." She whispered, and Cato swatted Glimmer away again. "So we'll need to have each others backs in there." As soon as she said the words she had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming. She quickly added. "Just to continue the act. I hate the idea of us sticking to each other like glue but we might need to if-"

"Fine." He interrupted. Eve looked at him and noticed that he was leaning towards her, away from Glimmer. His voice lowered to a whisper. "But just promise me that I can kill Sparkles."

Eve smiled.

* * *

"Why not?! It's the new Temporarily Permanent range." Luno explained as he held up a clear bag completely crammed full of makeup. "It will stay on for weeks!"

The two of them were in a fully white room below the Arena, which was empty except for two chairs against one wall, a table in the very centre, a mirror and a clothes rack, both built into the far wall, and the tube-lift in the corner. A voice over the loudspeakers had announced that they had "F_ive minutes until all tributes are expected to be in their tubes"_, and Luno had come up with the _brilliant_ idea to put her in makeup.

"No." She took a step away from him. Wearing makeup for the Games was a joke! Luno was insane to think it wasn't.

"But-"

"I said no!"

Luno pouted, then placed the bag on the table and wandered over to the rack. "You won't have any mirrors or makeup in there so I thought you'd appreciate it." He sighed wistfully and picked up the only hanger, a dark green jacket dangling from it feebly. "Not even a little bit?" He handed her the jacket and stared longingly at the bag.

"I'm not wearing make up in there, Luno. It's a combat arena. With blood and murder and death. No." She was glaring at him as she spoke, her tone fierce

"But wouldn't you like to look pretty for it? Your face is going to be all over Panem, after all."

He raised his eyebrows, but Eve just stared at him.

"Alright." He sighed defeatedly. "Well at least let me do your hair. You can't leave it like _that_." He said, already making a move closer.

Eve reached protectively around her head and touched her ponytail. Luno was peering at her from under his green eyelashes expectantly, and she knew he wouldn't let her go up through the tube if she didn't let him do her hair, so she gave up. "Fine." Then she thought about the way his hair was piled up on top of his head, and quickly added: "But no beehives."

"Of course, of course. I'm just going to do a plait. Specifically, the plait I _tried_ to do for the Tribute Parade until your boyfriend yanked it out." He huffed angrily and shuffled around to her back and quickly undid her hair.

"Ow!" She said as he pulled the hair tie out, no doubt taking a clump of hair along with it.

"Sorry! Sorry! In my defence you had done it quite tight though!" He exclaimed, and then brushed her hair. Luno sighed. "I'm sorry that we didn't get to meet under more convenient circumstances. I have a feeling that you and I would have been friends if things were different." He exhaled deeply, sadly.

Eve disagreed with him completely, but knew not to say so. Instead she nodded, but even that got on her stylists nerves.

"STAY STILL!" He shrieked as he started plaiting her long hair in a fishtail. Eve froze immediately. Luno might have been stupid and small and weak, but he was still terrifying.

"_Two minutes, tributes."_ The same female voice announced, and Luno screeched.

"THAT ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!" He yelled up to the ceiling. Eve stayed still and silent as he took deep breaths to calm himself down, and she couldn't help but think that she was more afraid of Luno than she was of anything or anybody in the whole of Panem. He finished her plait with his dignity intact and walked around to her front. Luno clasped his hands together and sighed. "You look lovely. Even without the Temporarily Permanent make-up."

Eve's brow creased, before she finally stood up and walked over to the mirror, the noises of her boots touching the floor barely audible. As she looked in the mirror and examined the perfect plait, she saw Luno sniffing behind her.

"_One minute._"

"I know it's... silly, but you're... you're such a lovely girl and... and I just... I hope you win." He snivelled out.

Eve started walking over to the glass tube in the corner. "I'll be fine." She smiled sweetly as she stepped inside.

"_Thirty seconds._"

"I know, I know." He rubbed his eyes. "But... I'll still... wish you luck. Good... good luck."

"_Ten seconds."_

"Thank you, Luno." She smiled her nicest smile at him just as the tube doors slid shut. The platform began rising and she saw Luno begin bawling uncontrollably before she rose up through the ground and into the Arena.

* * *

_IT'S THE GAMES NEXT CHAPTER! Sweet mother of Jesus. This is intense._

_I came up with Eve and Cato's couple name too. Are you ready? Are you really ready? IT IS...*drumroll*...LADLEY! Isn't it perfect? I started off with Eto and Ceve but they sounded terrible and Harek sounds repulsive, so Ladley it is!_

_27 REVIEWS, 2491 VIEWS AND 754 VISITORS?! Thank you all so so much. I love you._

_Please don't hate me but I'm going to have to stop posting so often. My writers block is getting worse and worse and I'm fairly busy nowadays so, yeah. Just keep that in mind._

_FOLLOW! FAV! REVIEW! PM! ANYTHING WORKS!_

_Oh, and it's my birthday on December 5th. Just thought I'd let you all know._

_Eva xox_


	12. Hit the Ground Running

A bright flash of sunlight. Eve's eyes adjusted and then all she could see was trees.

Trees. The Cornucopia. A lake. Twenty three other tributes.

Victims.

Prey.

She smiled widely.

This was it.

She glanced around. Cato was directly on her right, looking as excited and cocky as she'd ever seen him. She ignored it and looked around more. Marvel to her left, Sparkles next to him, and beyond that Peeta and Katniss. Crellis and Lucille were further around to her right, but she refused to look at them.

_49._

She saw the numbers counting down on the circular screen above the Cornucopia.

_44._

Weapons.

Her eyes flew around the ground, spotting a belt of knives almost directly in front of her.

They were meant to be hers. Definitely.

_35._

Swords inside the Cornucopia.

_31._

No whips. Her heart dropped but she didn't swerve.

_29._

She had a plan. She'd grab the knives; there had to be around eight in there. She'd use them and wait for the bloodbath to finish before the other weapons came into play.

_19._

Aim for Twelve. Avoid Crellis and Lucille completely. Don't kill any other Careers. Simple.

_15._

She looked around and saw Katniss mouth something to Peeta, and him mouth something back.

_12._

_11._

_10._

She looked at Cato. He smiled.

_7._

She got ready to run and began grinning_._

_5._

These Games were hers.

_3._

_2._

_1._

The gong sounded. Eve hit the ground running and grabbed the knives. She slung them round her shoulder as the boy from Ten ran straight in front of her. She threw a knife and it flew straight through his throat. With a thud, the boy from Ten was dead.

Eve sprinted into the centre of the chaos just in time to see Cato snap the neck of the other Ten tribute. Eve looked around and set her sights on the Six boy. He had grabbed a backpack and was now running as quickly as he could away from the Cornucopia.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't fast at all.

Eve tackled him to the ground in seconds but he fought back. To his credit, he was strong enough for his punch to her forehead to hurt, but Eve had soon regained control and had him pinned by the throat on the grass.

"Bad move." She grinned. She held his throat firmer. She knew time was flying by but she knew what to do.

After ten seconds or so, the boy from Six was lying on the ground with his neck and wrists slit, two broken legs and his tongue lying beside him on the ground. Eve smirked, but not for long.

Footsteps behind her. Eve spun and saw the boy from Five coming at her with a dagger. She grinned maliciously and slammed into him, shoving them both to the ground. Five slashed at her and managed to get her on the cheek. Eve laughed and punched him on the nose. He groaned and dropped the knife. Eve smiled and climbed on top of him and held his knife to his throat.

"Nice try." She grinned wider and slashed his throat. Blood spurted onto Eve's face and pooled in his mouth and he gurgled hideously. She was enjoying this.

She got up saw Katniss grabbing a pack. Eve's grin widened even more as the fat boy from Seven shoved her to the ground and raised his sword above his head. Eve ran closer and threw the dagger she'd taken from Five. It plunged into the back of his skull and he crumpled to the ground on top of Katniss, who squealed and shoved the body away. Now it was Twelve's turn.

Katniss' eyes widened when she saw Eve. Eve narrowed her eyes and flicked her wrist, but Katniss was ready. The knife embedded itself in her pack and Katniss smiled shortly before getting up and running towards the forest.

"SHIT!" Eve screeched, but Katniss had already disappeared. _Later, Eve._ _You'll get her later._

Eve turned back and saw Marvel finishing off the Eight girl, who was the last tribute to die in the bloodbath. Eleven canons boomed.

As Marvel stood up and grabbed the tributes pack, he caught her eye. He nodded towards the mouth of the Cornucopia and Eve began walking back.

"Nice killing, cupcake." Said a velvety voice from her left. Eve spun her head around and glared . Crellis had fallen into step beside her somehow, holding a reddened machete in one hand and a bloody pack in the other. "How many? Four?"

Eve wrapped her hand around a knife at her belt for comfort.

"That's impressive, considering how tiny you are." He slapped her on the ass and jogged ahead. Eve felt her skin crawling.

Eve kicked aside the body of the Three girl as she reached the other Careers.

"Took you long enough." Crellis murmured in her ear. Eve shouldn't have been bothered, but the way his hand was drifting down her back unnerved her. She shrugged him away and went to stand over by Cato.

"Hey." He said shortly.

"Hey yourself." She smiled at him as best she could. He smiled back and weaved his fingers into hers. She hoped Brutus was happy.

"Is this all of us?" Glimmer giggled. "Six isn't many!"

Eve tensed. Cato squeezed her hand and she immediately calmed down.

_That wasn't part of the plan._

"The less of us the better. We've already killed heaps of tributes so numbers are getting lower. It's easier to start with a lower amount because it means that we can get further through as a group without having to split." Cato kept his tone level and his hand in hers, and weirdly, Eve was glad. Glimmer nodded and giggled and picked at her nails.

"What now?" Marvel said and folded his arms.

Cato took charge again. "Well first off somebody needs to count the bodies so we know how many are left." He raised his eyebrows towards Lucille.

Lucille huffed out a laugh. "Didn't you hear the canons?" She snarled. "Eleven down. Thirteen left."

Cato nodded and opened his mouth, but Eve stopped him. "I need to bandage my head and Cato needs to fix his shoulder. We'll get some medical supplies and all sort out injuries before anything else. And then we'll set up camp and figure things out then, okay?"

Cato looked down at her and she saw the corners of his mouth twitch up, and it didn't seem forced at all.

_Not part of the plan not part of the plan not part of the plan._

"Lucille and I aren't injured badly. We can go for a walk and see if any tributes are hanging nearby." Crellis said cooly.

"Okay." Cato said. "What about you two?" He nodded towards the pair from One.

"I'm alright, but I think Glimmer got cut." Marvel said. Next to him, Glimmer pouted and pointed to her upper arm. Eve looked around again and noticed that Crellis and Lucille had already left. "I can pile up the supplies. They'll be easier to keep tabs on if they're all together." Marvel said. Cato and Eve both nodded.

Ten minutes later, Eve and Cato were inside the Cornucopia sorting out their injuries. Eve's gash on her forehead had been bad, but Cato's shoulder cut was a lot deeper. He'd had to take of his shirt for Eve to be able to see it properly, and though Cato did have the nicest body she'd ever seen, she felt violated by being that close to it.

He'd been shot by "the asswipe from wherever" in the forearm before Glimmer had killed him and taken the bow. Eve had to admit, she was impressed that Glimmer had managed a kill. Maybe she wasn't all boobs and no brain.

"How many?" Cato said as he rubbed the Capitol cream onto her head.

"Four." She huffed out. "I could've done so much better if I had whips."

Cato smiled. "I know."

She glanced up at him as she put another layer over his arm, but he looked genuine. She laughed. "Well what about you?"

"Three." He breathed out. "It would've been more if you hadn't killed them all first."

She shrugged. "The quicker bird gets the worm."

"It's actually 'the early bird gets the worm.'"Cato pointed out. Eve pulled the bandage tight and Cato hissed. "What was that for?!" He snarled.

"You're a prick." She let go of the bandage and chucked his shirt at him.

"I try my hardest." He mumbled and slipped it over his shoulders. Eve wiped her hands on her shirt and stood up.

"What do we do now?" Marvel said as he sat up. Eve had forgotten about him and Glimmer, who had both been lying down behind them for the whole thing. They'd already fixed up their wounds.

"Ooh!" Glimmer clapped wildly. "Can we please go swimming in the lake? PLEASE?!"

Eve scoffed. Glimmer shot her a death glare. Cato answered. "Maybe later. But what we need to do is set up the tents." He said firmly. "You two can do that while me and Eve go and find Crellis and Lucille. Yes?"

"I have a better idea. I go with Eve and help find them." Marvel said to everyone's surprise. "I need to do something other than hang around here."

Glimmer squealed in delight. "Sounds good to me! Cato, you and me can spend some time getting to know each other." She batted her long eyelashes at Cato. Eve started to laugh.

Cato went green and Eve barely stopped herself from laughing. "I don't know if that's-"

"We'll go." Eve smirked at him. "Come on, Marvel."

Cato narrowed his eyes at her, but Eve just tossed her hair, grabbed her knife belt and a sword and walked away with Marvel on her heels.

* * *

"Where do you think they've gone?" Marvel huffed. "They didn't leave that long ago and we know they went this way." He rubbed at his forehead. Eve brushed aside a branch and held it back so Marvel could pass without being slapped in the face. "Shouldn't we have come across them by now?"

"I have no idea."

Marvel seemed to be weighing this up. "Maybe they fell down a ditch. No! Maybe they got shrunk and we've already stepped on them." Marvel was grinning. Eve laughed. She had decided that he was nice enough for the two of them to joke around until he died.

"Maybe they shrunk_ and_ fell down a ditch. You never know." She smiled. Marvel let out a hearty laugh.

"I think they shrunk, fell down a ditch, had sex, Lucille got pregnant, and now Crellis is being forced to raise the baby while Lucille complains about not having a bigger ditch."

Eve had to cover her mouth to stop her laughing from attracting any attention. Then she heard noises coming from up ahead. "I think we just found their ditch." She said, still smiling.

Eve led the way through the woods until they ran straight into another camp. And it wasn't Crellis or Lucille sitting down behind a rock. It was the boy from Three.

"Well well." Marvel unsheathed his sword. "What do we have here?"

Three screamed like a girl and began scrambled backwards. Eve grabbed two knives from her belt and let one go, intentionally making it sink into his shoulder. Three screeched, but nevertheless he froze. "Don't even think of running." Eve smirked. The boy began crying.

"P-p- please don't k-kill m-m-me!" He blubbered. Eve sauntered over and pulled the knife out of his shoulder, making Three cry harder in agony. She pointed it straight at his head, in between the eyes.

"Why ever not?" She laughed out. Marvel was by her side and pointing his sword at Three's chest.

"Give us one good reason." Marvel grinned.

Three's sobbing started to calm down. "I-I have an idea f-for your s-s-supplies."

Eve saw Marvel raise his eyebrows in the corner of her eye. "And that is...?" He said.

"I-I'm g-good with w-wiring and e-electrical stuff." He grovelled. "I w-was thinking t-that maybe I c-could dig up t-the mines around the p-pedestals and r-reactivate t-them around your s-supplies."

Eve and Marvel shared a glance. It sounded like a decent idea, but if it didn't work out then she could always slit his throat. Eve nodded at him and stepped back. "You can come with us back to camp and tell everyone else about it. But any games and we'll kill you." She snarled. "Okay?" Eve lowered her arm.

Three nodded ferociously, stood up and wiped away the tears.

"Come on then." Marvel lowered his arm too, and with that, they began walking back to camp.

* * *

Eve, Marvel and the boy got back to the Cornucopia quickly, and now Three was relaying his idea to the other Careers. Crellis and Lucille had wandered back while Eve and Marvel had been searching for them, which Eve found incredibly strange. She hadn't said anything though. Eve and Cato sat side by side.

"...And I'd be able to turn them on and turn them off whenever you wanted so you could get to your supplies." Three wrung his hands together like his life depended on it.

Eve looked up at Cato. A long time passed before he spoke. "Okay." Three slumped in relief. "But any tricks and you're dead, Three." He pointed a finger, and the boy nodded wildly.

"Wait." Eve said. Three went pale. "Would there be a chain reaction if one of the mines blew up?"

Three shook his head as the colour returned to his face. "I'd make them work so that they only explode alone. I promise they won't blow up the supplies. I promise I promise I promise." Eve still wasn't convinced, but for Three's sake she nodded.

"Sounds great!" Glimmer squealed. "So you better get to work on that then. WAIT! What are we all going to do now then?"

"Yeah Cato, what are we going to do now then?" Crellis said smoothly. Eve realised that apart from slapping her on the ass after the bloodbath, he'd left her alone completely. No attempts to slide his tongue down her throat again or get into her pants.

Maybe he was just waiting for the right time.

Eve shuddered. She'd never let him have her. Never.

"We wait until after the sun sets. There's got to be some idiot out there who lights a fire, and when they do, we'll be ready." He said. "Now someone get dinner ready."

* * *

_So this was a very big week! The Games have started, I've FINALLY written the end of Chapter 13 (for later on, of course) and it was also my 15th BIRTHDAY, so it would mean the world to me if all of you beautiful readers leave me a review or PM me or follow or favourite the story! :D_

_I apologise for all of the missing page breaks, too! I've gone through the story and I've realised that it's skipped out on so many, but when I go onto the doc and put them in it doesn't make a difference. Hmm. :/ Oh well, I'm sure it still makes enough sense for you to guess where they are :)_

___If there are any mistakes make sure to let me know, and I'm so so so sorry but I've got the WORST case of writers block and I've been finding it so hard to write! So I'm going to be posting a lot less frequently. But that should be okay, shouldn't it? :( I'm sorry :(_

___But ignoring that, please make sure to review/PM or anything else! It would be amazing if you could :)_

_Eva (the 15-year-old) xox_


	13. Smoke Rising

"Pretty sunset." Eve mumbled. She and Cato were sitting on top of the Cornucopia, watching as the sun went down, sending pink and orange and red streaks across the sky. It would've been breath-taking if not for the ugly silence between the two of them.

"Yep" was Cato's short reply.

Eve shot him a look. "This is where you'd say that there are prettier things to look at. Didn't Enobaria go over this with you?" Her voice dropped to a whisper to prevent the cameras from hearing. "It's a typical, cheesy couple thing. After you say that then I smile at you and you smile back and that's that. That's what Brutus told me to do, anyway."

Cato stared at her. "Brutus planned out our conversations?!" Eve nodded, and Cato swore. "I should've known. But hey," The arrogance crept back into his voice, "Enobaria probably didn't go over it with me because I don't need a script. I'm a good enough actor anyway."

Eve couldn't stop herself and burst out laughing. "Is that right?"

Cato frowned. "Are you jealous?"

"I'm a better actor than I thought if you think that."

Cato threw his hands up and sighed. "There are much prettier things than the sunset, Eve." He recited, and shot her a fake smile.

Eve snorted and snuggled up to him, just like she was supposed to. "You're terrible at acting, blondie."

Then, without even thinking about it, Eve kissed him.

Their lips brushed together lightly, almost kindly at first, until Cato pushed her back. He held her back for a couple of seconds. His eyes scanned her face, like he was trying to decide what to do next. Eve smiled at him, and Cato pulled her back in, both of them falling deep into it too.

Their lips and tongues were tangled together and Eve could feel that Cato was getting as lost in it as she was. Eve wrapped her arms around Cato's neck and he pulled her in tighter. Eve bit at his lip and Cato pulled away, smiled, and kissed her again. He slid his arms over her shoulders and lowered his mouth to her collar bones. Eve sighed as he kissed around her neck, leaving hickeys all over. Eve was so lost in the moment that it took a long time for it to hit her.

This was real.

This wasn't part of the plan.

_Not part of the plan not part of the plan not part of the plan._

Eve's eyes flew open. She shoved him backwards and scrambled away from him. Cato fell back and when he sat up he stared at her with a puzzled expression, but then he looked just as disgusted as Eve knew she did. But forgetting her disgust, forgetting everything, she forced a laugh out.

"Now that was real acting." She said. Eve grinned widely at Cato and made her way to the edge.

As soon as she slipped off the roof, the manic smile dissolved from her face and a frown took it's place. A miserable, confused, disgusted frown, but there was still a flicker of something in her stomach that wasn't leaving.

Eve knew that he'd felt it too, no matter how much he wanted not to. The sun had full set by now and the sky had turned a beautiful dark blue. Eve took three deep breaths and rubbed at her forehead. Why? Why had she done that? Why had she kissed him? She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming and set her mind straight.

_Snap out of it, Eve. You need to get it together. It's dark now. It's hunting time._

* * *

"Okay. Three, you keep watch while we hunt. You know what will happen if you screw up. Everybody else, grab weapons. " Cato announced, immediately grabbing two swords from inside the Cornucopia. He sheathed one behind his head and tossed the other around in his hand, feeling the weight and focusing on that and nothing else.

He heard Sparkles giggle from behind him. "You're so good with swords." She gushed and reached for the bow. Cato smiled at her and watched as she blushed and giggled again.

After what had happened on the roof, he needed to forget about Eve and how much he'd enjoyed what happened. It was disgusting and unnatural for two people to hate each other so much and then just kiss like all that hate didn't exist.

He shuddered. He thought that maybe Glimmer could help him get it out of his mind, and she seemed more than willing to do so. He didn't care about the plan. He didn't care if Snow was setting up a death trap for him at that moment. He wasn't putting himself through anything like that with Eve again. Whatever the Gamemakers threw at him, he was sure he'd make it through. Hell, maybe he'd make Eve get the worst of whatever it was

Cato shook his head and turned back to the other Careers. "Everyone ready?"

Everybody apart from Eve nodded.

"Great." He ignored her.

"Is that smoke?" Marvel said. Cato looked at him, then in the same direction Marvel was, and sure enough there was a billow of smoke rising up from the forest. Cato began to smirk.

"Well, what are waiting for?" Lucille hissed.

"Nothing." Cato heard Eve snarl, and then saw her start jogging ahead. He balled up his fists, anger coursing through his veins.

He was leader. He was superior. He was supposed to lead.

She needed to wrap her shitty little slutty dumbass fucked-up whorey head around that.

Just as he was about to start following her, which he really hated the idea of, he saw a tribute coming around the back of the Cornucopia.

It took less than a few seconds for Cato to grab him by the neck and hold him in the air. It look even less for him to recognise the tribute as Peeta Mellark.

"What the fuck do you want?" Cato snarled as Peeta started prying at Cato's hand.

"I c-came to of-offer a d-deal." Peeta choked out.

"Oh yeah?" Cato pulled out his sword and pointed it at Peeta's stomach. His voice rose. "And what might that be?"

The other Careers had all gathered around by now, Eve as well. Now they all stood just staring at the fire shit Cato was about to kill. That was, unless he said something decent.

"I... I c-can help you f-find K-Katniss."

Lucille, Glimmer, Marvel and Crellis all burst out laughing. Eve and Cato stayed silent.

"Wait wait wait... You're telling us you'll help us find your girlfriend? So we can kill her" Glimmer squealed in between giggles.

"Y-yes!"

Peeta was met with another hysteric chorus of laughing, but Cato let go of his neck and watched him drop to the floor. He stared at him a minute to see if Peeta was joking. He didn't seem to be, but Cato still held his sword out.

Eve was beside him now, holding a dagger in each hand and wearing the same expression Cato was. "Explain" was all she said.

Peeta gulped, and then started to stand up. She shoved him back down. "Or we'll kill you." She added. Cato glanced at her quickly before turning back to Peeta.

"This is pathetic." Marvel grumbled from behind them, the laughter worn away with aggravation. "You two make a decision. We'll start walking." Four sets of footsteps retreated behind him and it was only then that Peeta talked.

"I know her. I know where she'd be sleeping and where she'd set traps and where she can get you from. I can help you get to her." He said surprisingly calmly. "I can help you kill her."

"So you're just going to lead us right to the love of your life and let us kill her?" Cato huffed. "Or are you going to lead us on a wild goose chase and take us as far away from her as you can? If you want to stay alive, the answer better be the one we want."

He ignored that he said 'we'.

"I swear on my life that I'm not joking." Peeta said.

"That isn't much to swear on." Cato heard Eve mumble, but Peeta didn't seem to hear.

"Please."

Eve and Cato exchanged a glance. Any chance of finding Katniss was better than no chance at all. The decision was made.

"Come on." Cato turned and began walking away.

Peeta stood up and Eve shoved him after Cato. "Go."

* * *

Peeta was loud.

Eve could tell he was trying to be quieter but he couldn't help it. He led them through the woods while stomping and breathing loudly and breaking branches, and it annoyed Eve so much that she could barely stop herself from plunging a dagger into the back of his skull. Or maybe her own. Either way, the pain would stop. But even with the catastrophe of noise Peeta was making, Eve could still hear Cato and Glimmer.

It was hilarious in her opinion. Glimmer would say something flirtatious and giggle and Cato would make some sort of awkward reply in the attempt to hold up a conversation, and it would continue like that. It was obvious what he was doing, which was trying to forget about the kiss, but she already had. She'd forgotten how nice it had felt, and how natural her lips had felt against his. Those thoughts were at the back of her mind now, and she didn't ever want them to come back.

Crellis and Lucille were silent as always, and it unnerved her to say the least. Their footsteps were so quiet it was like they were ghosts. Crellis could've fallen into step beside her and she wouldn't have noticed. The hairs at the nape of her neck stood on end and she looked around to make sure he was staying his distance while they padded through the woods. Thankfully he was at least two metres away, but he managed to catch her eye. He winked and grinned, and Eve couldn't stand it.

He was just waiting until they were alone, which would possibly be later on in the night. She'd probably be forced into taking the first watch, and there was always the possibility that he'd stay awake until everybody else was fast asleep...

"You fuckhead!" Lucille's snarl at Peeta snapped Eve back to reality. "Stop being so loud. There's someone up ahead." Eve heard her tone quieten and noticed the faint glow coming from behind a couple of trees. Peeta stopped altogether, but Lucille was shoving him forward.

Eve jogged ahead of everybody, her footsteps lighter than the tributes from Four. Cato caught up and Eve slowed, the two of them sneaking around to the back of the campsite where they wouldn't be seen.

When the fire came into view, she noticed the little fourteen year old girl from District Six warming her hands on the fire. Eve snuck around to directly behind the girls back, but Cato had beaten her there. Glimmer was on his right, Marvel next to her. Lucille and Crellis stood behind Eve, who silently positioned herself next to Cato. Peeta was cowering behind them.

The girl must've heard something, because she swung around and just looked at them for a few short seconds as the thought sunk in. Cato tossed his sword over in his hand, and the girl let out a long, piercing scream before he sliced her across the chest.

The girl fell backwards, her blood covering the leaves around her. A cannon sounded, and Cato grinned widely. Glimmer laughed and he joined in, making Eve cringe.

"Did you see the look on her face?" He said to the giggling blonde.

"_Oh no! Please don't kill me! Oh, nooo!"_ Glimmer mocked. Eve immediately felt irritated. Everything about Sparkles got on her nerves, and the way she was sticking so close to Cato made her oddly uncomfortable.

They kept walking, and by now everybody was laughing at the little girl they'd killed. Everybody except Eve.

"That was a good impression!" Cato stepped closer to Glimmer while Eve was walking behind them. For one second, she thought they'd kiss. It made her feel horrible. _Because he's ruining the plan_, she told herself. _That's why. That's all it is._

Glimmer giggled up close to his face, then Cato pulled away. "Hey! Lover Boy." He called out.

Eve hadn't realised Peeta was next to her, but as he walked over to Cato he sent her an apologetic look. She dug her nails into her palms. _Fuckwit_.

"Are you sure she went this way?" Cato pointed to his left.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Peeta nodded.

"You better be." Cato said.

Peeta nodded once, then quickly added "That was one of her snares back there".

Eve felt bored and wanted to get up ahead, so she started jogging. She passed Peeta and was about to pass Cato when he pulled her back.

"What?" She hissed, and noticed that his little hooker had run off to talk to Marvel. "Are you lonely because your whore left? Bastard."

He ignored her. "Do you think we're wasting our time with him?" He nodded towards Peeta. "It isn't like he's able to sniff Katniss out. And he loves her, so what're the chances that if he does find her he'll point her out?" Cato said.

Eve bit back the venom in her mouth and thought about this for a little bit, then gave a serious answer. "He's just sticking with us to stay alive. Chances are he plans on finding her and they'll run off together. We can keep close tabs on him and when he tries to leave with her, we can get both of them."

Cato nodded slowly. "You're good with plans." He said quietly, like he didn't realise he'd said it. Eve looked at him with her eyebrows creased, and Cato's widened. He quickly added: "But I still hate you."

Eve smirked. "Same to you, blondie." The two of them started walking after the others.

"One more thing." He said hesitantly. "Has... Has Four... tried anything with you?"

Eve felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on her. "What?"

"I know what happened on the roof."

"How do you know about that?" Eve whispered, more weight piling on top of her every second.

"Before we left Brutus told me that you'd kissed Crellis on the roof after I left. I don't know how he knew about that but I'm smart enough to realise that you wouldn't do that, especially with _him_." Cato paused. "He forced you into it, didn't he?"

When Eve didn't answer, Cato was sure the answer was yes.

"Brutus told me to make sure you didn't do anything like it with him again because it would ruin the plan. I'm just making sure he hasn't tried to rape you." He looked at her, and Eve knew he was being fully serious. She wasn't sure whether it was the nervousness or the anger making her shake so violently, but it didn't matter. Eve's anger spiked.

"You're _worried_ about me?" The shaking intensified. "No. He hasn't tried anything because I'm capable of _looking after_ myself. And anyway, how can you think _I'm_ the one that's going to ruin the plan when you're trying so hard to get into Glimmer's pants?!"

Cato looked shocked. "Okay, now hold-"

"I'm not blind, Cato! I can see that you're using her because you want to forget about how much you enjoyed that kiss on top of the Cornucopia. Well, _newsflash_! Even if you fuck her hard twenty times a day you're not going to forget. Neither one of us is. And you might not think I do but I _give a shit_ about this plan. I want to go back to my mum! I want to go back and be a_ fucking_ Victor so if acting like I love you will get me there then I'll do it! If you decide that you want to get fucked by an attention-seeking slut then you can wait until you're rotting in hell, big boy," She stepped closer so that her face was barely a centimetre away from Cato's, "because I'm not giving up my chance of winning."

They stood there for a few seconds more, so close that they could feel each other breathing.

And then Cato's lips were on hers.

He kissed her so passionately that she almost fell backwards. She tried to shove him away but he held her firm. Soon she stopped struggling and melted into it, their tongues dancing together in a fierce battle. She felt a flame rising in her stomach and the two of them stumbled backwards until Eve's spine was against the nearest tree. She ran her hands through his tousled blonde hair and he cupped her face with his as their lips fought for domination. In that moment, the two of them felt more alive than they had ever felt. Cato's hands were everywhere and he growled fiercely into the kiss...

"Interesting."

Crellis' voice cut through the passion like a knife through flesh. Eves eyes flew open, but this time Cato was the one to break the connection. He pushed away from her and stumbled backwards. Crellis stood there smirking at the two of them, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I thought it was all a hoax." He laughed.

"It is." Eve snarled at him, but Crellis just grinned wider.

"So I see." He winked at her.

Eve went rigid and barely stopped herself from strangling him. Cato just narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway, I came over here to say that we're going back to camp, so once you two have finished fucking, we'll be there." He nodded left, smirked at them, then turned and walked away.

Eve and Cato stared after him for a second, but then Eve lost it. She stormed over to him and shoved him back.

"What the FUCK was that?!" She screeched, but Cato just laughed. Eve felt so embarrassed that she had tears forming in her eyes.

"Who's the best actor now?" He laughed.

Eve felt her cheeks flare up, and she just stared at him for a few seconds before she completely lost it.

"_FUCK OFF!_" Eve screamed in his face so loudly that it made a flock of birds erupt from a nearby tree. She bit back her tears and stormed in the direction of the camp, Cato silent behind her.

* * *

_IM SO SORRY THAT IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I UPDATED! My writers block is tragic and I've been finding it so hard to write! Ahhhhh. But anyway, here's Chapter 13. Thoughts, comments and criticisms are wanted :) I'll be posting Chapter 14 soon hopefully, but don't slam me if I don't :) You'll get it eventually, that I can promise! __I just want to thank everybody who's been reviewing! It means so much, so thanks :) OH AND CONGRATULATIONS ME! THIS STORY'S HAD OVER 4K VIEWS! F6YUUDHWIASYHDWIUH THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO SO MUCH!_

_On a calmer note, __I'm proofreading this tomorrow, so any mistakes please point them out :)_

_HAPPY READING, READERS!_

_Eva xox_

_Just a fun fact: Did you know it's really difficult to write about a kiss when you've never experienced one? :o_


	14. Swarm

Eve woke up the next morning with head against Cato's chest and her arms and legs draped over him. With a snarl and a strong shove, she slipped out of the tent and stretched her arms.

There'd only been four tents amongst all of their supplies, meaning that they all had to share with their District partner. Peeta and Three (nobody bothered learning his name) were sharing the fourth tent. Of course, Glimmer had been all too happy to share, and Marvel and Crellis and Lucille hadn't really minded, but Eve and Cato had gone ballistic.

Unfortunately, there weren't really any other options, so they'd had to deal with each other for the night. Eve grabbed her boots and jacket from inside the Cornucopia and put them on. Marvel had taken the second watch last night, Lucille had taken the first, and he now sat humming to himself on the ground by what remained of the fire: an angry pile of ashes and flickering embers. Glimmer was over by the lake with Crellis and Lucille while they washed their weapons off. Peeta sat on top of the Cornucopia keeping watch.

She ignored them all and wandered back over to hers and Cato's tent and kicked it. Hard. The tent shuddered and Eve heard a loud grunt come from inside and couldn't help but grin.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty! We've got hunting to do." She called out and kicked the tent.

Seconds later, Cato emerged with his hair tousled and his eyes drooped, a frown tugged his lips down. He pulled the finger at Eve and wordlessly stumbled over to the Cornucopia and slipped on his shirt and boots, all the while casting a murderous look at her.

* * *

Eve almost fell over when she saw the forest.

"Holy fuck." Cato whispered.

Marvel whistled out a long note. The woods were completely destroyed. Every tree and plant had been burnt to the ground. A few squirrels and rabbits lay dead and blackened. Eve's boots were already covered in singed leaves and ash and dirt.

Glimmer squealed and took four steps back. "I am NOT walking through that. Ash and smoke are terrible for skin."

"Do you think it got anybody?" Crellis said, ignoring her.

"We would've heard a cannon." Marvel answered.

Eve saw Cato nod in agreement. "It's just to keep the Games interesting, since we probably won't find anyone today."

"Maybe it hurt Katniss." Peeta mumbled so quietly that Cato barely heard.

"What was that, Lover Boy?" He turned to Peeta and folded his arms.

Peeta stood firm. "Katniss would've slept in a tree last night, meaning that she probably got hurt by the fire." He said, stronger this time. Eve let out a short laugh and everybody swerved to face her.

"What?" Cato snarled at her.

Eve grabbed her sword from her belt and started walking towards the fire. "I don't see why we aren't looking around for tributes already. Anybody within a miles' radius has to have been affected, which means they'll be weak. And weakness means they're as good as dead." She said, spitting out her father's words. She didn't fully understand why she'd said them, but the way the other Career's were nodding told her she'd said enough.

Cato was the only one not to nod, but there was nothing else to do apart from follow her and the others as they hunted, so she watched as he dragged himself after them.

Within minutes, Cato was more upbeat. He'd strolled to the front of the walking Career pack and Glimmer had ran after him and started holding his hand and telling him how resourceful he was. Every word passed between the two of them hit Eve like a truck. The worst thing was that she didn't understand why. She hated Cato, and she hated Glimmer too.

So why did she feel so ugly and horrible when they smiled at each other?

She felt her nails bite into her palms and was glad to feel the pain. It distracted her, and distraction was what she needed. Peeta was the only person behind her, and even he was surprisingly quiet considering his heavy walk.

Suddenly Marvel yelled something out that Eve could barely make sense of. She heard "There she is!", but didn't realise who he meant until she spotted Katniss in the stream under the rock overhand they were walking on. Her heart suddenly jumped and she pulled out four knives, two in each hand. She sprinted ahead of Cato and Glimmer, who had only just noticed Katniss and were pulling out their weapons, and gave chase.

"She's mine!" Glimmer giggled out, but Eve knew she was just saying it to feel some sort of dominance. Katniss let out a squeal and ran back into the woods.

Eve noticed Katniss was limping dramatically. An injury from the fire? It had to be. That would explain why she was in the stream. Eve slowed slightly and waited for Cato to catch up. If Katniss was anyones kill, it was theirs. They had more reason than anybody else to be the ones to end her life.

Cato completely ignored Glimmer and smiled at Eve as they ran. She laughed at the fact that their ferocious sprint after Katniss had become a half-hearted jog, but she knew why. Katniss would soon tire or collapse from the pain her leg injury brought. They were giving her time to give up.

"Where you gonna go, baby?" Crellis called out to Katniss from behind them.

Katniss let out a strangled cry and started climbing the biggest tree in sight. Eve grinned widely and was sure Cato was doing the same next to her.

The two of them stopped at the bottom of the tree as the other five Careers caught up.

"Where you going, Girl on Fire?" Cato taunted.

Eve laughed. "Nowhere to run now!"

"We got her!" Glimmer squealed.

Marvel chuckled. "She's cornered!"

Lucille and Crellis were smirking up at Katniss wordlessly, which made Eve wary. She knew they'd want to kill the Girl on Fire too, but there was no chance she and Cato would let them.

"That's not gonna help you up there Katniss!" Glimmer yelled, breaking through Eve's thoughts.

Katniss climbed higher and higher as the Careers continued to yell insults and the like. Eve noticed Peeta a few metres away looking completely crushed. Eve almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Eve hadn't realised that Cato was climbing up to Katniss until it was too late. He plummeted to the ground in front of her with a loud thud and a pained grunt. Eve would've laughed if it were any other tribute up the tree, but it wasn't. It was Katniss.

Eve helped him stand as Glimmer pulled out her bow and said, "I'll do it myself." She took aim and shot, but the arrow went wide and disappeared into the tree's foliage.

Eve smirked and threw one of her knives. The knife sailed through the air and slammed into branch behind Katniss, so close that it cut off a chunk of her hair head. Eve swore. Katniss frowned and felt the tuft before looking down at them.

"Maybe you should throw the sword." Katniss called down to them. Eve hissed, and Cato held her hand. The anger began to subside.

"Guys just wait her out." Peeta said loudly. Eve watched Katniss' eyes widened as she realised the love of her life was working against her. Eve smirked and turned around to face Peeta as he spoke. Cato did the same, but didn't let go of her hand. "She's gotta come out at some point. It's that or starve to death. Just kill her then."

Cato and Eve exchanged a look. Eve nodded, and Cato turned back to Peeta. "Okay." He said firmly.

Cato let go of Eve and shoved the bow into Glimmer's hands. Eve could tell he was annoyed, but Peeta was right. Katniss would eventually have to come down, and they'd be waiting for her when she did.

"Somebody make a fire." Cato said.

"I'm not going." Lucille hissed.

"Neither." Crellis added.

"I don't care who does it!" Cato yelled. Crellis and Lucille burst out laughing and Eve saw Cato flinch. She reached out and touched his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down slightly. "Just somebody go." He said, making sure to lower his tone. Marvel nodded once and walked away.

"You two can catch some game for us." Eve cast her eyes to Crellis and Lucille, who were both still laughing, before turning to Glimmer. "Glimmer, you can go with Peeta and get more water." She said.

Peeta cast a long look up to Katniss before mumbling an okay and wandering away. Glimmer smiled and winked at Cato before skipping after him.

Cato took a deep breath. "Fuck. I don't know what came over me. I just sort of snapped."

"Don't let it bother you." Eve patted him on the back twice, but before she could stop herself more words slipped out. "You can't let it get into your head. You'll torture yourself over it later and It'll ruin you, trust me."

Eve went stiff and her grin disappeared. Nobody other than her mother knew about her 'issues' and all of the trouble they'd caused, and she'd intended to keep it that way.

Not that it mattered now.

Cato was smart. Smart enough to figure out the meaning behind her words. He looked at her and cocked his head, but Eve just shrugged and started walking away, hoping he hadn't put two and two together.

* * *

Cato was twirling the tip of his sword over the fire when Eve got back, and the other Careers were chatting about their training back in their Districts. She didn't know how long she'd walked for, but judging by how dark it was, it had to have been at least half and hour. She huffed and plonked herself down on the ground next to Marvel, who was skinning a wild cat.

"Hey." He smiled at her.

"Hi." She responded.

"And where did _you_ go?" Lucille spat.

Eve stretched out her arms and legs. "I thought maybe somebody should check if any other tributes were hanging around."

Lucille narrowed her eyes. Eve ignored her.

"Well while you were off doing that, we managed to set up camp here and catch a wild cat and a boar." Crellis added. "So we're eating big tonight."

"Amen to that." Glimmer giggled.

"How do you think Katniss is doing up there?" Peeta said dreamily, his eyes cast up to the figure in the tree above them.

"I'm surprised she hasn't fallen off the branch." Marvel said. Eve snorted. "I know I would've by now."

This seemed to make Peeta sad, but Eve couldn't care less. Cato spat on the now red-hot end of his sword. The spit sizzled, which seemed to make Glimmer blush.

"Boys." She giggled.

They sat in silence for a bit, until finally Marvel finished skinning the two animals and had skewered the cat over the fire.

"Right." Crellis took charge. "Someone needs to cook this thing."

Cato cast a glance at Eve and bit back a laugh, knowing all-too-well that she wouldn't be the one cooking. Eve frowned at him and looked away.

* * *

Cato woke up with Glimmer's head resting on his shoulder. He pushed her off, slightly creeped out by her closeness. He rolled on his side and closed his eyes again.

After a couple of minutes of torturing himself with thoughts of Eve, he faintly started hearing a sawing noise coming from the tree above him. He'd temporarily forgotten Katniss was up there, so he shrugged the noise off as being a bird or another sort of animal.

_Wait_, he thought. _Is that buzzing?_ Cato's eyes flew open. The sawing noise became more irrational and the buzzing more violent, and something clicked in his brain.

Katniss.

The tree.

Buzzing.

But the realisation came too late. The branch and the nest fell straight on top of Eve and Cato watched as thousands of Tracker Jackers swarmed. Eve's body convulsed and she woke up screaming. Cato beside her in seconds, but that didn't stop the wasps from stinging them both..

He screamed as a stinger dug into his shoulder, and again as more and more stingers embedded themselves.

His vision blurred and his mind clouded but Cato didn't know what to do other than run. He faintly caught sight of the scene around him. Glimmer screamed and fell to the ground. Peeta made a break for it. Katniss climbed down and stumbled off into the forest. Marvel and Crellis and ran away in different directions. Lucille collapsed and her body was swallowed by wasps.

Eve screamed Cato's name as she tried to move the branch off of her, but Cato ignored her and ran after Peeta, a lump on his brow making it even more difficult to see and a further crowd of them on his legs and hips made running almost impossible.

Cato heard Peeta yell out to Katniss, and after three more seconds he was on him. Peeta screamed and begged, but Cato didn't listen. He lunged with his sword and caught Peeta's leg in a long, jagged gash, and Peeta fell to the ground.

Suddenly Peeta's eyes went red. Cato froze. Horns sprouted out of Peeta's scalp and long fangs protruded from his mouth. He stumbled back as Peeta stood up and slashed Cato's cheek with his claws. Cato turned and ran, ignoring the monstrous Peeta that started melting behind him.

Cato's vision was blurry and his blood was drumming in his ears, but he managed to notice the figure step out from behind a tree in front of him. Cato stopped in his tracks and stared, the haze clearing immediately. His brother stood right in front of him with a smile on his face, his body clad in a white suit.

"Cato." Aaron said, the smile faltering.

"Aaron?"

But Aaron was gone.

In his place stood Eve, wearing a long flowing white dress.

Cato was confused as hell, but something was pushing him towards Eve full-force. Alarm bells were ringing in his head and every warning light was flashing.

She was in danger and he needed to get to her.

He started running towards her, but he made it two steps before the bomb detonated.

Cato yelled out Eve's name as the waves from the explosion slammed into him and forced him to the ground. He faintly heard Eve scream out his name from a million miles away in return before the world went black.

* * *

**-BIG IMPORTANT NOTE. ALL READERS READ THIS-**

**I'm going back to the UK over New Years so I won't be able to write or post or anything until I'm back in NZ around January 20th next year. I'm really horribly sorry to do this to you but I trust you'll be able to survive without any Ladley updates for a couple of weeks!**

* * *

_Okay, now back to the more casual stuff. First off, __MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope you've all had/are having/will have the best Christmas you've ever had and enjoy/enjoyed/are enjoying every minute of it :) As for me, __I had such an amazing day today, so I'm in a perfectly gloriously ridiculous state of happiness._

_And it's hard to go through an incredibly depressing and scary scene when you're up on Cloud Nine. So I apologise if I've written this chapter terribly. But I think I did well, in all honestly, considering I've been celebrating all day._

_Criticisms are welcome (just not too harsh)! I'd love to reach 50 reviews some time soon, so everybody PLEEEAASE leave me a review and tell me what you think of how the stories piecing together and let me know if you think I can do anything better :)_

_Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to review or PM me :)_

_Eva xox_


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